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Love the Earth!

April 22nd is Earth Day and what better way to show your appreciation for our beautiful planet than by minimizing waste. We throw away billions of dollars worth of food each year, despite the fact that so many people in this world, including here in British Columbia, are going hungry.

During this unusual time of COVID-19, many of us are stocking up our fridges, freezers and pantries over concerns about store closures and shortages. But it’s key to not buy more than you can use! Here are a few tips for using up food so it doesn’t end up in the compost or worse, the landfill:

  1. Check your fridge and freezer before making a weekly meal plan and grocery list. Look for veggies that need to get used up or items lingering in the freezer for longer than 3-6 months.
  2. When shopping, check best before dates, only buy what you can use and don’t fall victim to specials like “buy 4 get 1 free” if it’s too much food for you. Most of the time these specials hold true even if you only buy 1 or 2 of the item.
  3. The most commonly thrown away food items are milk, bread, eggs, cheese and fruits and veggies. If we keep track of the food in our fridges, we can ensure we use things up before they go bad and that doesn’t mean on the best before date. There are no expiry dates for food in Canada (only for infant formula) so instead of focusing on the date, use your senses to determine if the food has gone off. To use up excess, try:
  4. Making Homemade Ricotta cheese from excess milk—it’s a fun science experiment with kids!
  5. If bread has gone stale, pulse it in the food processor into crumbs, keep them in the freezer and use them for breading fish or making meatballs, meatloaf or homemade veggie burgers.
  6. If eggs are reaching their best before date and you cannot use them up, consider freezing them. Crack and whisk them together and place in an airtight container with the date and number of eggs. Freeze for up to 4 months then use them up in baking, as the texture may not make the perfect scramble.
  7. Overly ripe bananas can be frozen in the peel or peeled and stored in a freezer bag and used up in smoothies and baking. Making apple, pear and/or berry compotes are perfect for using up fruit and a good replacement (or addition) for maple syrup on whole grain pancakes.
  8. Soups are a great way to use up a lot of veggies. You can also save the scraps from vegetable ends like carrots, celery and onion and cook them with bones to make your own stock. Keep a stock bag in the freezer and toss the vegetable scraps and bones in until you’re ready to make stock. Check out our recipe here.
  9. Love your leftovers! Also a big contributor to food waste, leftovers can make an easy lunch the next day or two. Be creative with adding something new to freshen them up. 

Being at home these days can make it easier to keep a handle on what food needs to be used up. But as always, when in doubt, throw it out. For food safety information during the time of COVID-19 or anytime, visit Health Canada.

For more information and resources on minimizing waste, visit https://lovefoodhatewaste.ca/about/food-waste/

→$post->category Timber\Term(16)
  • contents
  • Static class properties (1)
  • Available methods (30)
  • public id -> integer29
    public ID -> integer29
    public object_type -> string(4) "term"
    public PostClass -> string(11) "Timber\Post"
    public TermClass -> string(4) "Term"
    public _children -> NULL
    public name -> string(27) "Holidays & Celebrations"
    public taxonomy -> string(8) "category"
    public term_id -> integer29
    public slug -> string(21) "holidays-celebrations"
    public term_group -> integer0
    public term_taxonomy_id -> integer29
    public parent -> integer0
    public count -> integer6
    public filter -> string(3) "raw"
    public term_order -> string(1) "0"
  • public $representation :: string(4) "term"
  • →public static from($tid, $taxonomy) -> static
    @param $tid
@param $taxonomy

@return static

Defined in <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/timber-library/lib/Term.php:91
    →public __call($field, $args) -> mixed
    This is helpful for twig to return properties and methods see: https://github.com/fabpot/Twig/issues/2
@return mixed

Inherited from Timber\Core
Defined in <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/timber-library/lib/Core.php:26
    →public __construct($tid = NULL, $tax = "") 
    @param int $tid
@param string $tax

Defined in <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/timber-library/lib/Term.php:68
    →public __get($field) -> mixed
    This is helpful for twig to return properties and methods see: https://github.com/fabpot/Twig/issues/2

@return mixed

Inherited from Timber\Core
Defined in <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/timber-library/lib/Core.php:35
    →public __isset($field) -> boolean
    @return boolean

Inherited from Timber\Core
Defined in <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/timber-library/lib/Core.php:15
    →public __toString() -> string
    @return string

Defined in <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/timber-library/lib/Term.php:81
    →public can_edit() -> bool
    Can you edit this post/term/user? Well good for you. You're no better than me.
@example
```twig
{% if post.can_edit %}
<a href="{{ post.edit_link }}">Edit</a>
{% endif %}
```
```html
<a href="http://example.org/wp-admin/edit.php?p=242">Edit</a>
```
@return bool

Inherited from Timber\Core
Defined in <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/timber-library/lib/Core.php:100
    →public children() 
    @api
@return array

Defined in <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/timber-library/lib/Term.php:361
    →public description() 
    @api
@return string

Defined in <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/timber-library/lib/Term.php:369
    →public edit_link() 
    @api
@return string

Defined in <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/timber-library/lib/Term.php:383
    →public get_children() 
    @internal
@return array

Defined in <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/timber-library/lib/Term.php:331
    →public get_edit_url() 
    @internal
@return string

Defined in <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/timber-library/lib/Term.php:229
    →public get_field($field_name) -> mixed
    @param string $field_name
@return mixed

Inherited from Timber\Core
Defined in <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/timber-library/lib/Core.php:125
    →public get_link() -> string
    @internal
@deprecated since 1.0
@return string

Defined in <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/timber-library/lib/Term.php:265
    →public get_meta_field($field_name) -> string
    @internal
@param string $field_name
@return string

Defined in <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/timber-library/lib/Term.php:238
    →public get_method_values() -> array
    
@return array

Inherited from Timber\Core
Defined in <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/timber-library/lib/Core.php:115
    →public get_path() -> string
    @internal
@deprecated since 1.0
@return string

Defined in <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/timber-library/lib/Term.php:256
    →public get_posts($numberposts_or_args = 10, $post_type_or_class = any, $post_class = "") -> array|bool|null
    Get posts that have the current term assigned.

@internal
@param int|array $numberposts_or_args Optional. Either the number of posts or an array of
arguments for the post query that this method is going.
to perform. Default `10`.
@param string    $post_type_or_class  Optional. Either the post type to get or the name of
post class to use for the returned posts. Default
`any`.
@param string    $post_class          Optional. The name of the post class to use for the
returned posts. Default `Timber\Post`.
@return array|bool|null

Defined in <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/timber-library/lib/Term.php:283
    →public import($info, $force = false) 
    Takes an array or object and adds the properties to the parent object
@example
```php
$data = array('airplane' => '757-200', 'flight' => '5316');
$post = new Timber\Post()
$post->import(data);
echo $post->airplane; //757-200
```
@param array|object $info an object or array you want to grab data from to attach to the Timber object

Inherited from Timber\Core
Defined in <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/timber-library/lib/Core.php:59
    →public link() -> string
    Returns a full link to the term archive page like
`http://example.com/category/news`
@api
@example
```twig
See all posts in: <a href="{{ term.link }}">{{ term.name }}</a>
```
@return string

Defined in <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/timber-library/lib/Term.php:398
    →public meta($field_name) -> string
    Retrieves and outputs meta information stored with a term. This will use
both data stored under (old) ACF hacks and new (WP 4.6+) where term meta
has its own table. If retrieving a special ACF field (repeater, etc.) you
can use the output immediately in Twig — no further processing is
required.
@api
@param string $field_name
@example
```twig
<div class="location-info">
<h2>{{ term.name }}</h2>
<p>{{ term.meta('address') }}</p>
</div>
```
@return string

Defined in <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/timber-library/lib/Term.php:421
    →public path() -> string
    Returns a relative link (path) to the term archive page like
`/category/news`
@api
@example
```twig
See all posts in: <a href="{{ term.path }}">{{ term.name }}</a>
```
@return string

Defined in <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/timber-library/lib/Term.php:435
    →public posts($numberposts_or_args = 10, $post_type_or_class = any, $post_class = "") -> array|bool|null
    Gets posts that have the current term assigned.

@api
@example
```twig
<h4>Recent posts in {{ term.name }}</h4>

<ul>
{% for post in term.posts(3, 'post') %}
<li>
<a href="{{ post.link }}">{{ post.title }}</a>
</li>
{% endfor %}
</ul>
```

If you need more control over the query that is going to be performed, you can pass your
custom query arguments in the first parameter.

```twig
<h4>Our branches in {{ region.name }}</h4>

<ul>
{% for branch in region.posts({
posts_per_page: -1,
orderby: 'menu_order'
}, 'branch', 'Branch') %}
<li>
<a href="{{ branch.link }}">{{ branch.title }}</a>
</li>
{% endfor %}
</ul>
```

@param int|array $numberposts_or_args Optional. Either the number of posts or an array of
arguments for the post query that this method is going.
to perform. Default `10`.
@param string $post_type_or_class     Optional. Either the post type to get or the name of
post class to use for the returned posts. Default
`any`.
@param string $post_class             Optional. The name of the post class to use for the
returned posts. Default `Timber\Post`.
@return array|bool|null

Defined in <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/timber-library/lib/Term.php:487
    →public title() 
    @api
@return string

Defined in <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/timber-library/lib/Term.php:495
    →public update($key, $value) 
    
@param string  $key
@param mixed   $value

Defined in <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/timber-library/lib/Term.php:348
    →protected static get_tid($tid) -> int|array
    @internal
@param int $tid
@return int|array

Defined in <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/timber-library/lib/Term.php:199
    →protected get_term($tid) -> mixed
    @internal
@param int|object|array $tid
@return mixed

Defined in <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/timber-library/lib/Term.php:161
    →protected get_term_from_query() 
    @internal
@return integer

Defined in <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/timber-library/lib/Term.php:108
    →protected get_term_meta($tid) -> array
    @internal
@param int $tid
@return array

Defined in <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/timber-library/lib/Term.php:150
    →protected init($tid) 
    @internal
@param int $tid

Defined in <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/timber-library/lib/Term.php:125
→ Called from <ROOT>wp-content/themes/zoomer/blocks/related-items/display.php:54
  1. <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/advanced-custom-fields-pro/pro/blocks.php:831
  2. <ROOT>wp-includes/class-wp-hook.php:341 [acf_block_render_template()]
  3. <ROOT>wp-includes/class-wp-hook.php:365 [WP_Hook->apply_filters()]
  4. <ROOT>wp-includes/plugin.php:522 [WP_Hook->do_action()]
  5. <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/advanced-custom-fields-pro/pro/blocks.php:794 [do_action()]
  6. <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/advanced-custom-fields-pro/pro/blocks.php:679 [acf_render_block()]
  7. <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/advanced-custom-fields-pro/pro/blocks.php:590 [acf_rendered_block()]
  8. <ROOT>wp-includes/class-wp-block.php:599 [acf_render_block_callback()]
  9. <ROOT>wp-includes/blocks.php:2383 [WP_Block->render()]
  10. <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/blocksy-companion-pro/framework/premium/features/render-custom-post-type.php:276 [render_block()]
  11. <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/blocksy-companion-pro/framework/premium/features/render-custom-post-type.php:215 [Blocksy\CustomPostTypeRenderer->get_content_unfiltered()]
  12. <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/blocksy-companion-pro/framework/premium/features/content-blocks/renderer.php:11 [Blocksy\CustomPostTypeRenderer->get_content()]
  13. <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/blocksy-companion-pro/framework/premium/features/content-blocks.php:457 [Blocksy\ContentBlocksRenderer->get_content()]
  14. <ROOT>wp-content/plugins/blocksy-companion-pro/framework/premium/features/content-blocks.php:427 [Blocksy\ContentBlocks->output_hook()]
  15. <ROOT>wp-includes/class-wp-hook.php:341 [Blocksy\ContentBlocks->Blocksy\{closure}()]
  16. <ROOT>wp-includes/class-wp-hook.php:365 [WP_Hook->apply_filters()]
  17. <ROOT>wp-includes/plugin.php:522 [WP_Hook->do_action()]
  18. <ROOT>wp-content/themes/blocksy/inc/components/single/content-helpers.php:476 [do_action()]
  19. <ROOT>wp-content/themes/blocksy/template-parts/single.php:74 [blocksy_single_content()]
  20. <ROOT>wp-includes/template.php:816
  21. <ROOT>wp-includes/template.php:749 [load_template()]
  22. <ROOT>wp-includes/general-template.php:206 [locate_template()]
  23. <ROOT>wp-content/themes/blocksy/single.php:17 [get_template_part()]
  24. <ROOT>wp-includes/template-loader.php:125
  25. <ROOT>wp-blog-header.php:19
  26. <ROOT>index.php:17
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Generation Health Clinic delivers programs to families across British Columbia, on the territories of many distinct First Nations. We are grateful to all the First Nations who have cared for and nurtured the lands and waters around us for all time. We acknowledge the rights, interests, priorities, and concerns of all Indigenous Peoples - First Nations, Métis, and Inuit - respecting and acknowledging their distinct cultures, histories, rights, laws, and governments.