5 Ways to Celebrate February as National Canned Food Month

You’re probably not going to start canning your own food, but now that it’s National Canned Food Month you may want to pause in that grocery aisle to consider how convenient canned food can be. Healthy Hairdresser offers five ideas to celebrate canning during February:

1. Discover how affordable canned foods are! This month in particular, the specials can be attractive. So watch for discounts, and stock up on your favorite soups, beans and canned fruits and veggies.
2. Add canned foods to your reliable recipes. From dropping canned fruits into smoothies to filling soups, salads and sauces with vegetables and beans, you can use canned foods to get away from the “same old, same old.”
3. Take canned foods as your “carry-with-me” healthy snack. It’s so easy to throw a can of tuna, salmon, pineapple or peaches (in juice, not sugar!) into your bag or your pocket before leaving for the salon or the gym. If you have a microwave available, include soups, vegetables and beans on your list of possibilities. Grab a spoon!
4. Hold a canned food drive for your local food bank. Canned foods are highly valued at pantries because of their long shelf life. A Phoenix food pantry posts: “Most of us don’t spend a lot of time analyzing and appreciating the steel cans lining our pantry shelves that hold our staple foods, but at St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance, they are fundamental in our mission to alleviate hunger in Arizona.”
5. Clean out your cupboard! Isn’t getting rid of outdated possessions a great way to celebrate any month? In addition to tossing any can (or box) with a past-due date, make sure to discard cans that are dented, rusty, bulging or leaking.