Washington wastes 500,000 tons of food every year, and food waste is especially an issue throughout the holidays. Safeway has been working with the Washington Department of Ecology on how we can shop smarter and use food well to cut back on this waste. Safeway chef ambassador Joel Gamoran has simple, yet impactful, tips to create stunning, delicious cheese boards this holiday season while reducing waste and stretching your budget. First, Gamoran suggests visiting the Safeway app for deals on local cheeses and other ingredients. Then he recommends planning how your cheese display will look and what you’re serving it on. “The bigger the plate, really the more you have to deal with, so put out smaller vessels,” he said. When you think about assembling your board, you start with what is going to be perishable then you can fill in the creases with nuts, crackers, charcuterie and harder cheeses that are shelf stable. “You can freeze the nuts, so don’t feel like you need to use them all,” Gamoran said. You can blend leftover crackers into breadcrumbs and add them to chicken, mac and cheese and other dishes. For perishable cheeses, you can start by putting out half of what you bought and leaving the rest in the refrigerator. You can always add more throughout the gathering if needed. “Just think about what you’re putting out and what you’re going to be putting out for the weeks and months to come,” Gamoran said. Adding height to your cheese board is a great way to encourage guests to start with the perishable food options. “When it comes at you, you tend to eat it first,” Gamoran said. If you do have soft cheeses left over from your display, you can use them by blending them all to create a tasty cheese dip. “There’s lots of ways to look at this and think there are many meals to come,” Gamoran said. For more resources to reduce food waste and live sustainably, visit usefoodwell.org. Download the Safeway for U app for deals and recipes to help you plan for the holidays. Sponsored by Safeway Segment Producer Suzie Wiley. Watch New Day Northwest at 11 a.m. weekdays on KING 5 and streaming live on KING5.com. Contact New Day.