How to Organize Your Refrigerator for Better Health

Beyond peace of mind and healthy snacks at the ready, maintaining organization in the refrigerator can also help you extend the shelf life of perishable items, reduce food waste and improve the nutrition potential of your meals. While no two refrigerators look just the same, try implementing a few of these tips and tricks to help create a low-cost system that works for you.

Getting organized begins with knowing what ingredients you have on hand, and storing them in a way that makes them easily accessible. Use clear containers such as wire baskets or plastic bins to store whole fruit and vegetables, bags of flours, jars of fresh herbs and other miscellaneous ingredients. Keeping these items together by section will help prevent buying duplicates and losing track of ingredients.

Leftovers can easily get buried in the back of the refrigerator, making it difficult to remember to eat them before they become food waste. In the United States alone in 2018, over 40 million tons of food were sent to the landfills, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Creating a dedicated leftovers section will help you to keep this category of highly perishable items top of mind. Not a fan of eating the same meal twice? Use this section as a starting point and see how you can transform leftovers into something completely new! My go-to is a fried egg, avocado and hot sauce, and almost any meal can become breakfast.

Store washed and chopped fruits and vegetables in reusable silicone bags or clear glass containers right at the front of the shelf so you always have a colorful snack at the ready and in plain sight when you swing open the refrigerator door. Most people regularly fall short on fiber intake, according to the American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, and this is one simple way to help increase your daily consumption.