Don't Toss Those Less-Than-Perfect Veggies, Love Them

OAKLAND, Calif., Oct. 22, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Americans waste 28 percent of the produce they bring home, adding up to $500 a year tossed away¹. That's a little less than what the average American will spend on holiday gifts this year². Hidden Valley, longtime supporter for getting kids and parents alike to love their veggies, has partnered with restaurateur and food activist Tom Colicchio for the Taste Not Waste Campaign to encourage families to love all of their veggies - from the weird to the wilted to whole veggies - to help fight food waste.

"Food waste is becoming a leading cause of waste and veggies are among the top items to end up in the trash. Hidden Valley has always been about loving veggies and the Taste Not Waste campaign inspires more people to move those imperfect veggies to the center of the plate," said Hidden Valley Associate Brand Director Brian Steinbach.

In support of the USDA goal to reduce food waste by 50 percent by 2030, Hidden Valley is making it simple for people across the country to join their efforts in taking steps to reduce food waste by encouraging them to post a photo of their less-than-perfect veggies along with #TasteNotWaste to Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. Hidden Valley will donate $1 per post to Great Nations Eat, a campaign from Share Our Strength that helps raise awareness and drive solutions for the problem of hunger in America, up to $10,000.

As part of Hidden Valley's commitment to helping change the perception of what "perfect" veggies look like, the brand has created three limited edition bottles, changing the iconic Hidden Valley label to one that displays imperfect veggies. Beginning October 22, bottles will be available for purchase on eBay through the holiday season, until sold out, with all proceeds benefitting Great Nations Eat.

As people are preparing their holiday menus, veggies will undoubtedly be a part of side and main dishes for many families, but fruits and vegetables remain the second most wasted food in American homes. Some additional numbers:

• Six billion pounds of fruits and vegetables will end up going to waste this year¹ – which is more than double the total amount of sweet potatoes grown³, nearly six times as much as pumpkin production³, and just about enough to provide U.S. households who are "food insecure" with a pound of produce every day for a year⁴
• The U.S. generates an extra 5 million tons of household waste each year between Thanksgiving and New Year's – three times as much as at other times of the year⁵

Through Taste Not Waste, Chef Tom Colicchio will be providing original recipes and tips to help families cut down on their waste in the kitchen. "Right now, fruits and vegetables are very expensive, and families can't afford to feel like they are literally throwing money down the drain or into the trash," said Tom Colicchio. "Regardless of bumps or bruises, odd shapes or weird colors, great food is defined by flavor and taste. Those perceived imperfect ingredients we've long avoided can play an important role in perfectly tasty meals, while helping families waste less and maximize their food budgets."

For more on Taste Not Waste, and to get Tom's recipes and additional tips for wasting less in the kitchen, visit www.TasteNotWaste.com.

The Clorox Company

The Clorox Company is a leading multinational manufacturer and marketer of consumer and professional products with about 7,700 employees worldwide and fiscal year 2015 sales of $5.7 billion. Clorox markets some of the most trusted and recognized consumer brand names, including its namesake bleach and cleaning products; Pine-Sol® cleaners; Liquid Plumr® clog removers; Poett® home care products; Fresh Step® cat litter; Glad® bags, wraps and containers; Kingsford® charcoal; Hidden Valley® dressings; Brita® water-filtration products and Burt's Bees® natural personal care products. The company also markets brands for professional services, including Clorox Healthcare®, HealthLink®, Aplicare® and Dispatch® infection control products for the healthcare industry. More than 80 percent of the company's brands hold the No. 1 or No. 2 market share positions in their categories.

The company also has been recognized recently for its corporate responsibility efforts with two Climate Leadership Awards for Excellence from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and inclusion on the 2015 Newsweek Green Rankings and Corporate Responsibility magazine's 100 Best Corporate Citizens 2015 list. The Clorox Company and The Clorox Company Foundation contributed more than $15 million in combined cash grants, product donations, cause marketing and employee volunteerism during the past year. For more information, visit TheCloroxCompany.com, the CR Matters Blog and follow the company on Twitter at @CloroxCo.

About Share Our Strength

Share Our Strength was founded with the belief that everyone has a strength to share in the global fight against hunger and poverty, and that in these shared strengths lie solutions. Thirty years later, the organization has raised more than $520 million to combat hunger and poverty and is renowned for finding scalable, pragmatic solutions to social problems. Today, Share Our Strength is focused on ending hunger in America through the No Kid Hungry and the Great Nations Eat campaigns. Learn more at NoKidHungry.org.

¹ National Resources Defense Council,. (2012). Wasted: How America Is Losing Up to 40 Percent of Its Food from Farm to Fork to Landfill. Retrieved from http://www.nrdc.org/food/files/wasted-food-IP.pdf

² American Research Group, Inc.,. (2014). 2014 Christmas Gift Spending Plans Pass Pre-Recession Levels. Retrieved from http://americanresearchgroup.com/holiday/

³ Strauss, V. (2012). Thanksgiving by the numbers: 254 million turkeys, 2.7 billion pounds of sweet potatoes. The Washington Post. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2012/11/21/thanksgiving-by-the-numbers-254-million-turkeys-2-7-billion-pounds-of-sweet-potatoes/

⁴ Coleman-Jensen, A., Nord, M., Andrews, M., & Carlson, S. (2012). Household Food Security in the United States in 2011. Retrieved from http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/err-economic-research-report/err141.aspx

⁵ Worldwatch.org,. (2011). Reducing Food Waste During the Holiday Season | Worldwatch Institute. Retrieved 2 October 2015, from http://www.worldwatch.org/reducing-food-waste-during-the-holiday-season

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SOURCE Hidden Valley