Reducing food waste is one of the greatest ways for people to help reverse climate change, and at the same time save money, feed more people, and help preserve threatened ecosystems. Most people likely don’t want to throw out perfectly good food – but there are just a lot of things we don’t realize are, in fact, perfectly good food.
Take chickpea water, for example. Typically you would open the can, drain the water, and use the chickpeas as you please. But the reality is that’s a total waste. As it turns out, chickpea water, which is also known as aquafaba, is kind of a miracle ingredient. It mimics eggs in baking, so much so that one can make vegan meringues with it! When you consider that meringues are made of just egg whites and sugar, you realize what a feat this is.
The story is similar when it comes to pineapples. Although the skin and the spiky top aren’t exactly edible, the core totally is. It may not have the exact same succulent texture of the rest of the fruit, but it is still delicious and better yet, it’s where some of pineapple’s most impressive nutrients are hiding. Pineapple is the source of bromelain, a proteolytic enzyme (one that breaks down protein), that is a great boon for digestion. And you know where you find bromelain in a pineapple? It’s core.
The point is there are a lot of perfectly good food parts that most people just throw away. To see more great examples, have a look right here.
