WSU Kitsap County Extension

Directions Website

WSU Kitsap County Extension WSU Kitsap County Extension Evidence of noncompliance may be reported through your local WSU Extension office.

Our Programs:

4-H Youth Development
Regional Small Farms
Kitsap Harvest
Master Gardeners
SNAP-ed Nutrition
Rain Garden Mentors
Watershed Stewardship

WSU Extension programs and employment are available to all without discrimination. Reasonable accommodations will be made for persons with disabilities and special needs who contact our office at 345 6th Street, Suite 550, Bremerton, WA 98337 (360) 228-7300 at least two weeks prior to the event.

Join WSU Kitsap Extension for the Use Food Well Class Series, featuring practical, research-based strategies to help you...
10/20/2026

Join WSU Kitsap Extension for the Use Food Well Class Series, featuring practical, research-based strategies to help you prepare your kitchen and make the most of your food before, during, and after the holiday. Each class can be taken as a stand-alone or as part of a three-class series.

Food for Thought: Make Your Food Last Longer - November 4th
Are you throwing away food that could still be used? Learn how proper food storage can protect food quality, extend freshness, and reduce unnecessary waste. Participants will explore practical ways to organize the refrigerator, freezer, pantry, and fresh produce so food remains visible, accessible, and usable for longer.

Plan Less. Eat Better. Waste Less. - November 12th
Meal planning does not need to mean creating a complicated weekly schedule. Learn flexible ways to plan meals around the food you already have, your available time, and the needs of your household. This class introduces simple strategies for shopping with purpose, using leftovers, and creating meals without letting good food go to waste.

Food Safety: From Store to Table - November 19th
Food safety begins before food reaches the kitchen. Learn practical habits for purchasing, transporting, storing, preparing, and serving food safely. This class will help participants recognize common food safety risks and make everyday decisions that reduce the chance of foodborne illness at home.

https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/prepare-your-kitchen-for-the-holidays-4847939/

Worms are wild! Their relationship with soil science is fascinating... and when we put them to work for us.. the relatio...
10/07/2026

Worms are wild! Their relationship with soil science is fascinating... and when we put them to work for us.. the relationship is beneficial. We'll learn how to build a worm bin, and we'll learn how to feed them (good little composters) and then we have this beautiful benefit of castings... which means all the gardeners will want to be your friend.

This Saturday, October 10th, at 10am, we are hosting a FREE Vermiculture class... and you all are invited to dig in!
Registration found here: https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/backyard-composting-education-4847924?utm-campaign=social&utm-content=creatorshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=odclsxcollection&utm-source=cp&aff=escb

Small scale composting with a big bang! First- you can compost nearly everything. Second- it's so fast.. I mean like re...
10/07/2026

Small scale composting with a big bang! First- you can compost nearly everything. Second- it's so fast.. I mean like really fast. Third- plants eat it up and grow so big. Fourth- basically replaces watering. How? Bokashi! It's like sauerkraut for your plants.

This Saturday, October 10th, at 1 pm, we are going to break it down into simple terms, show you how easy it can be, and leave you amazed.

https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/backyard-composting-education-4847924?utm-campaign=social&utm-content=creatorshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=odclsxcollection&utm-source=cp&aff=escb

Food Waste Prevention WeekOctober 4th: Meet the Fridge Remix Artist They turn last night’s leftovers into tomorrow’s mea...
10/04/2026

Food Waste Prevention Week
October 4th: Meet the Fridge Remix Artist

They turn last night’s leftovers into tomorrow’s meal.

Some of our most favorite comfort time meals are a remix of goodness. Fried rice, casserole, jambalaya soup, or shepards pie. What favorite kitchen sink recipe has become a family dinner classic?

Last call, you’re it! Nominate your person: tag them, tag , use .

Food Waste Prevention WeekOctober 3rd: Meet the Just-Enough Genius They cook the right amount — no more, no less. Their ...
10/03/2026

Food Waste Prevention Week
October 3rd: Meet the Just-Enough Genius

They cook the right amount — no more, no less. Their move: actually read the recipe and scale it to how many people are eating, instead of guessing.

Hosting changes the math, though and they know it. When you’re feeding a group, portioning gets unpredictable, so the pro move is to plan for extra on purpose: think honestly about how much will actually get eaten, expect there’ll be leftovers anyway, and have a plan before the food’s even made. Ask guests to bring a container home. Pick up a few extra to-go containers yourself. Offer a plate to a neighbor who wasn’t at the table.

And when there’s extra regardless? Once it cools, it gets dated and frozen for later.

Tag your Just-Enough Genius, tag , use

Food Waste Prevention Week October 2nd: Meet the Sniff Sleuth They trust their senses over the date on the label — and ...
10/02/2026

Food Waste Prevention Week
October 2nd: Meet the Sniff Sleuth
They trust their senses over the date on the label — and they’re onto something. A significant amount of food gets tossed simply because people misread “Best By” as “Unsafe After.” Generally speaking, date labels signal peak quality, not safety. Two exceptions worth knowing: infant formula, where the date is a safety cutoff, and meat, which you’ll want to use or freeze by the date on the package.

Everything else? Trust your senses. Quick tip from us: most dairy is still good about 7 days past the date if it’s been kept cold — but the real test is simple. Smells right, tastes right, it’s good. Smells off? Trust that instead.

Here’s the bigger problem: right now there’s no single national standard for what “Best By,” “Sell By,” “Use By,” and “Expires On” actually mean, every state and manufacturer does it differently, which is exactly why so much good food gets thrown out. The bipartisan Food Date Labeling Act would fix that by creating one clear system nationwide: one label for quality, one label for safety, no more guessing. It’s currently in Congress. Tell your representatives you want it passed.

Find and contact your member of Congress: house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative and senate.gov/senators/senators-contact.htm

Tag your Sniff Sleuth, tag , use

Food Waste Prevention WeekOctober 1st: Meet the Ripeness Ranger They know exactly how and where produce ripens — because...
10/01/2026

Food Waste Prevention Week
October 1st: Meet the Ripeness Ranger
They know exactly how and where produce ripens — because storage location changes everything.

Some produce (apples, avocados, tomatoes, bananas) gives off ETHYLENE gas as it ripens, which speeds up RIPENING and SPOILAGE in whatever’s nearby. Keep those separated from produce that’s sensitive to it, like leafy greens and potatoes, if you want things to last.

Separately: onions and potatoes should never share a bin. It’s not about ethylene, potatoes give off moisture that makes onions rot faster, and onions release gases that make potatoes sprout sooner. Different drawers, different problem, same result: keep em separated!.

Fridge or counter also matters. Tomatoes, bananas, and potatoes stay on the counter — cold kills their flavor and texture. Most everything else that’s already ripe goes in the fridge to slow things down.

Tag your Ripeness Ranger, tag , use .

Food Waste Prevention WeekSeptember 30th: Meet the Cart Strategist They buy only what they’ll actually use. Before they ...
09/30/2026

Food Waste Prevention Week
September 30th: Meet the Cart Strategist
They buy only what they’ll actually use. Before they ever get to the store, they check the fridge, freezer, and pantry to see what’s already there. Then they shop with a list, built around that inventory, not around whatever looks good in the aisle.

That one habit kills two of the biggest sources of wasted food at once: buying food you already have (so now there are two of something that needed one), and buying food with no plan for how it’ll get used.

Know a Cart Strategist? Tag them, tag , use — and don’t skip the confirmation line.

Food Waste Prevention WeekSeptember 29th: Meet the Crisper Whisperer They know your fridge is basically a dating app. Ev...
09/29/2026

Food Waste Prevention Week
September 29th: Meet the Crisper Whisperer
They know your fridge is basically a dating app. Every food has a type, and putting it in the wrong spot is why things don’t work out. Per NRDC’s “The Refrigerator Demystified” (part of their Dating Game series on food waste), up to 40% of food in the U.S. is never eaten and a lot of that comes down to bad matches, not bad food.

Here’s how the Whisperer pairs things up:

Top shelf: the casual zone. Slightly warmer, lower stakes, good for leftovers, drinks, and ready-to-eat stuff like yogurt or cheese.

Bottom shelf: the serious commitment. Coldest spot in the fridge, which is exactly where raw meat, poultry, and fish belong — in a tray, so nothing drips on its neighbors.

The door: a situationship, not a relationship. It’s the warmest part of the fridge and gets a blast of warm air every time it opens. Fine for condiments, a bad match for eggs or anything actually perishable.

High humidity drawer: for veggies prone to wilting — carrots, leafy greens, spinach, broccoli. Low humidity drawer: for fruit and produce that tends to rot — apples, pears, grapes, berries, avocados. Mixing them up is basically a bad set-up.

A couple house rules that keep every match healthy: keep the fridge at 40°F or below (NRDC notes bacteria multiply fastest between 40° and 140°), don’t overfill it (cold air needs room to circulate), and don’t let ice build up (it makes the whole fridge work harder).

Source: NRDC, “The Refrigerator Demystified,” nrdc.org/food/wasted-food.asp

Food Waste Prevention WeekSeptember 28th: Every neighborhood has one. The person who never lets food go to waste — the s...
09/28/2026

Food Waste Prevention Week
September 28th: Every neighborhood has one. The person who never lets food go to waste — the sniff-test expert, the freezer genius, the leftover remix nobody saw coming. And some neighborhoods have something bigger: the food bank, the community fridge, the compost drop-off, the farm that donates its extras.
A shout out to all the Waste Warriors of Kitsap County. From the secret kitchen hacks to full scale community action, we glean for goodness and "waste not, want not" share the abundance.
How do you give food a second chance?

Address

345 6th Street, Suite 550
Bremerton, WA
98337

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 4pm
Tuesday 9am - 4pm
Wednesday 9am - 4pm
Thursday 9am - 4pm

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when WSU Kitsap County Extension posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share