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Title : Building a Zero Waste Pantry
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Building a Zero Waste Pantry

It's kind of hard to do a post on this, because a sustainable diet depends so much on location, culture,  values, socioeconomic factors, and dietary restrictions. Not only can I not eat gluten, but I can't tolerate grains, or soy, or too much sugar or caffeine. Plus the way I eat was shaped a lot by growing up in a country where celiac disease was considered a fake psychosomatic thing. For more than half my life, gluten free options were virtually unheard of, and I got used to eating mostly whole foods without a lot of additives. I also happen to like Korean foods a lot (duh), or dishes I learned to cook on my travels, and some of the spices or ingredients essential to making these gluten free are imported.

As I wrote on Instagram, where I live now, winter local food availability is limited. Since I’m also vegan, it's difficult to get necessary nutrients while relying exclusively on local produce. Food miles account for only a fraction of our carbon footprint, dwarfed by emissions resulting from food production. However, Mama Eats Plants inspired me to be more aware of the impact of imported foods (like the cacao nibs and shredded coconut I love), not just in terms of emissions, but other important issues like water usage, farmer rights, and cultural erasure. The social benefits of buying local can’t be overlooked, including supporting community cohesion and reinvesting in the local economy. So I try to source imported ingredients from companies that divert food waste, like Perfectly Imperfect Produce. That way I enjoy out of season produce without feeling deprived, and support an amazing local female-owned business in the process.

The foods listed below are simply the ones I use most often, and it changes based on where I'm living or my circumstances. Your list will be totally different, especially given my strange eating habits. Zero waste is highly individual, so these posts aren't prescriptive- I can only write about my own experiences, but hopefully the principles (not buying too much, eating plant based, using what I have) can be adapted to your situation.

Flours

• Coconut- Fresh Thyme carries organic, GF coconut flour, so I stock up on one quart size jar every three months or so.
• Almond- I usually make this myself because it's cheaper and easier to find gluten free almonds. Just put almonds in a food processor and pulse! It's so easy. I use this in smaller quantities- only about 1 pint size jar every three months. I try to limit my almond usage because of the energy and resources required to produce it, and the way the bees are treated (almond milk is still a lot better than dairy, however)

Beans / Legumes

• Quinoa- not either of these things, but I buy one quart size jar maybe 3x a year for the protein. It is imported, but I don't want to eliminate this from my diet completely for fear I won't be able to tolerate it again. I already have so many things I can't eat.
• Chickpeas-  I like to have two types of beans on hand at all times. In Paris, I bought these fresh, but in the US, I generally go through 1-2 quart size jars of bulk dried garbanzo beans per month. I always keep a few cans on hand, or buy canned if I can't find gluten free bulk. In my area, Whole Foods has BPA,  BPF, BPS, nylon, and polyester free cans. Eden Organics is another good brand for oleoresin lined cans. Click here for a full chart of BPA-free cans.
• Black or pinto beans- 1 quart sized jar per month. People will find this gross but I typically use these instead of pasta, just pour sauce directly on cooked beans. I add beans to everything- salads, bowls, curries, soups. I try to buy kidney beans or navy beans when I find them, for variety, but they aren't always available gluten free in my area. 
• Mung beans- I usually buy half a quart sized jar in a given month, and soak a little in water (like ten minutes), then pulse in a food processor, and mix with onions or sour kimchi for a savory pancake. No need for any other ingredients!
• Green or red lentils- it's harder to find these gluten free in the US; in France, it was so easy to find locally grown lentils! We even had bulk lentil pasta. I stock up on bean pasta if I'm traveling and find it in store, or buy bean pasta in a cardboard box if I'm cooking for guests.

Nuts

• Almonds- one small bento bag raw almonds per month (more if I'm making almond flour tortillas, which is not often), for flour or snacking. I like to eat these as a grain free granola with pecans, berries, seeds, and walnuts in homemade hemp or nut milk.
• Pecans- these grow locally (well, in Southern Ohio), so I get one medium bento bag per every one to three months. 
• Walnuts- also local, one small bento bag per month
• Cashews- can only find these imported, I get one small bag per every 1-3 months for milk and cheese. I generally prefer making nut milks and alfredo type sauces from nut butters, so if Fresh Thyme has cashew butter, I stock up on that instead.
• Peanuts- I buy these less often in the winter, since I only use them for pad thai and spring rolls and I mostly make these foods when it's warmer out, I can't explain why. I can't explain most of what I do

Seeds and dried fruit 

• Hemp- I get these at Fresh Thyme because the Whole Foods bin is generally contaminated, people are not careful! Tangentially related, my Canadian friend made me enough hemp oil to last the year, for a vegan source of omegas. I go through one small bento bag raw hemp seeds per month (about half a quart size jar)
• Sunflower / flax seeds, raw- one pint size jar of each lasts me six months, idk if it's ok to keep them that long but I haven't gotten sick yet
• Pumpkin seeds, raw- Lately I've been buying one small bento bag every two weeks, but other people have been eating the burcha I pack so this might not accurately represent my rate of consumption. During the season, I didn't buy these at all and just ate them from pumpkins or squash I bought/grew.
• Dried flaked coconut- one medium bento bag per every three months
• Cacao nibs- one pint size jar every three months 

Oils

• Avocado- I buy this packaged, once every six months. I try to use sparingly but it's really healthy
• Olive oil- one pint size jar every month
• Coconut oil- I  mostly use this for my body, hair, and under my eyes, one pint size jar per every three months
• Hemp oil- I forgot I already told you my Canadian friend makes this, I have a pint size jar it's taken me more than three months to go through

Sweeteners

• Local Ohio maple syrup is all I use! Sugared and processed myself. Six quart size jars last a year.
• Ok, I use dates also, I forgot. I go through one pint jar every two months, I like to just eat them whole with almond butter and dipped in cacao powder, like Amanda from Mama Eats Plants.

Other

• Tahini. I eat hummus every week, so I buy a giant glass jar (as big as my head, is the most accurate measurement I can give you) from the Middle Eastern store that lasts up to six months.
• Vegan mayo- I make this a lot, but sometimes I really screw it up, aquafaba is so difficult for me. I buy one jar of Fabanaise every one to three months, for those times when my vegan mayo is inedible.
• Cacao powder- one small bento bag lasts me, like, a year. I bought one pint size jar of bulk organic cacao powder at Sprouts when I was in Arizona and didn't finish it until a few months ago. Now I get it at Fresh Thyme.
• Cashew, peanut, or almond butter- one jar per month or less, and I only have one jar of nut butter at a time. I use this in place of flours for pancakes and mug cakes or cookies, or to make nut milk / creamy sauces more easily (thank you Archana for the tip).
• ACV- one quart jar every six months
• Applesauce or pumpkin- I use this in place of eggs for baking, and make it myself
• Coconut aminos- purchased in a glass bottle, once every six months or less
• Activated charcoal- also in a glass bottle, I use this very infrequently, mostly just to whiten my teeth.
• Xylitol- (packaged, one 1 kg bag per every two years) this is a sweetener but I don't want to scroll up. I really just use this to strengthen my enamel, I don't like it as a sweetener in food
• Olives- from the salad bar, I go through like a jar a week, I think people would be grossed out by how many saturated fats I ingest in a day
• Celery, garlic, and onion are staples of my cooking, as well as tomatoes. I eat tons of local greens and root vegetables in the winter, and berries and apples for fruits- but again, I like avocados, oranges, lemons, etc (a family friend just gave us some homegrown oranges, I never had oranges grown at this latitude before! They were delicious but had a lot of seeds). I've tried growing avocado here, the plant grows like crazy, but never produces any fruit.

Herbs / spices

• Turmeric- the following applies to all my spices; I purchase these in very small quantities for freshness (like one Weck mini mold jar every three months). Mostly my friends from Sri Lanka and India bring back their homegrown spices, but they are stupid cheap at Whole Foods if you buy them unpackaged. In Cleveland, I like Chuppa's for bulk spices, and in Paris, Marche d'Aligre. 
• Cinnamon
• Whole black peppercorns (I like my friends to bring this, it's much spicier than the stuff I find in stores)
• Basil (fresh, always, I soak this in olive oil for a nice dressing)
• Chili (whole peppers usually)
• Ginger
• Clove
• Nutmeg (whole)
• Salt (I only buy finishing salt, a practice I picked up in France)
• Oregano (fresh or dried, I always have oregano essential oil on hand for fighting colds but don't like it in food)
• Rosemary
• Cardamom

I used to buy tea in bulk but I can't handle caffeine anymore, it makes me too wild. And I don't like cumin or curry much. For recipes, I usually like Detoxinista, Minimalist Baker, My New Roots, Mama Eats Plants, or Live Planted. I tend to use cauliflower and beans instead of rice and roast a lot of veggies and just heap hummus or guacamole or tomato sauce over everything, although I do get fancier for guests. 

When I go shopping, I only take one or two jars for wet items (olives, vinegar, oil) and bag the rest, transferring them later (transferring really doesn't bother me, it takes two seconds to dump the stuff into a jar). So it's not like I'm carrying around a ton of stuff with me all day. I have a car now, but in Paris I carried everything, and when I first started zero waste, I took a bus to go grocery shopping, which taught me to pack light. I always tare my jars at the store because the scales vary, and take a photo of the tare and PLU number so the cashier can subtract the weight at the register. I don't call the store ahead of time or wait for a time when they're not busy, because usually the only time I have is on my lunch break, and also who calls people on the phone anymore? In eight years of zero waste, only once has anyone ever said no to putting something in my jar (ice cream at Amorino, and a week later they complied with my request). In fact, usually cashiers round up the tare weight of my jars, or they get sick of subtracting so they call the manager over to void transactions and give me a lot for free. Like, I think I've paid for olives only once since moving to the US.

Certain things are cheaper in bulk- tea, nut butters, beans, spices, cacao anything, coconut, seeds, and vinegar. Olives, oil, nuts, pasta, and flour are pricier (not almond flour), but it evens out because I'm not buying disposable or unnecessary items over and over again. In the Midwest, I prefer Fresh Thyme over Whole Foods for bulk because their bins are more likely to be gluten free, and I generally stay away from the kind with a scoop, sticking to lever bins. I know Whole Foods is owned by Amazon, but... it's so cheap (cheaper than Fresh Thyme), so I continue shopping there, if only for things like Fabanaise and salad bar falafel. It's also kind of like my runway, like a place to see and be seen and meet new people. I'm at a weird place in my life right now.

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