Reducing food waste should be at the top of everyones priority list; each individual consumer, the supermarkets and our Governments. Unfortunately there’s very little we, as consumers, can do to change how supermarkets behave. We can however, write to our MP’s and let them know that we want them to help reduce food waste. Most importantly we can make a massive difference in our own households. The stats below show just how important it is that we do what we can to reduce food waste.
“WRAP estimated annual food waste arisings within UK households, hospitality & food service (HaFS), food manufacture, retail and wholesale sectors in 2018 at around 9.5 million tonnes, 70% of which was intended to be consumed by people (30% being the ‘inedible parts’). This had a value of over £19 billion a year, and would be associated with more than 25 million tonnes of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Over 85% (by weight) of this wasted food arises in households and food manufacture, although waste arising in one part of the supply chain is certainly influenced by other parts of the chain.” – Wrap
Food is thrown out by supermarkets and it’s thrown into the bin in so many homes around the UK. If the food is not properly disposed of, either by being given to charities, used as animal feed or composted, it will end up in landfill sites.
“The process of layering general waste (in landfill) creates methane, which has a global warming potential 21 times greater than carbon dioxide and methane from landfill represents 40% of all the UK’s methane.” – Vision 2020
How to Reduce Food Waste
1. Make a Weekly Meal Plan
If you start a weekly meal plan you can figure out what to buy and how much you need to buy. When you don’t plan you can end up buying far too much fresh produce that just ends up rotting because you bought it out of habit rather than for a particular meal. You’ll probably make mistakes the first few times you write a meal plan, but it becomes easier the more you do it. If you order recipe boxes you’ll reduce food waste, but you might not necessarily reduce other waste.
Tip – it’s a good idea to factor in at least one day a week where you might end up ordering a food delivery or going out to eat if you do those things often.
2. Do a Food Stock-Take
Before we even start with talking about anything else, it’s a really good idea to go through your cupboards and freezer to see what food you already have in the house. It’s too easy to forget about that bag of pasta you bought 3 months ago and that’s hiding in the back of the cupboard. If you don’t know what you have in your cupboards you might end up buying so much of one item that it goes out date and you have to throw it away. A total waste of food and money!
3. Make a Shopping List
Now that you know what meals you’re going to eat and what food you have in the house you can write a shopping list. I find the hardest part of having a shopping list is sticking to it. Don’t be too hard on yourself if you buy the odd treat that wasn’t in the weekly meal plan, just make sure you don’t make a habit of it. If you keep eating treats you won’t want your dinner (your Mum always told you this!) and then you might end up throwing food away. We’ve all done it.
4. Cook in Bulk
You’ve just returned from the shops with loads of fresh vegetables and you’re very proud of yourself. So you should be! The sensible thing to do now is to cook in bulk so you use up all the vegetables you’ve bought. Cook a big chilli and portion the leftovers up and stick them in the freezer. Remember to factor in your frozen meals when making your weekly meal plan next week. This is one of the methods I always use to reduce food waste, by cooking in bulk. I like to cook a lasagne and a chilli at the same time and then freeze them (after portioning them) as the recipes I use for both these meals have very similar fresh ingredients.
5. Make Stock
One of the best ways of using your vegetable peelings is to make a good vegetable stock. You can even freeze it if you want to. Stock is used as the base of so many meals, so it’s a good habit to get into. If you’re a meat eater then you can make stock using all the bits you don’t eat. Here’s a veggie stock recipe.
6. Regrow Potatoes from Peelings
I’m just about to do this for the first time. If a potato peeling has an eye on it then you might be able to grow potatoes from it! I’ll be honest I think a good slice of the potato rather than just the peel would be more successful. I’ll let you know how I get on with my potato project!
7. Freezing Fresh Produce
If you don’t have a local greengrocer or farmers market it can be hard to find loose fruit and vegetables. Some vegetables always have a loose option, but over the years I’ve discovered that if I want fresh chillies I have to buy a whole bag of them. I live alone and don’t snack on chillies so it would be a complete waste of money and food if I didn’t freeze them. And you can freeze so many things. Some you’ll have to cook (or blanche) first, others you can just slice up and freeze (like lemons).
When I cook myself a nut roast I like to have a variety of vegetables on the plate with it. Broccoli, cauliflower cheese (vegan), carrots, roast potatoes and sometimes roast parsnips as well. If I was to buy a whole cauliflower, whole broccoli, whole parsnip etc I’d be eating the same meal every night for a week just so I didn’t waste all that fresh produce. Instead I cook all the vegetables on the first day and freeze them. The next time I want a nut roast I already have chopped up vegetables ready to be cooked. This has been a game changer for me and means I don’t have to limit how many different veggies I put on my plate.
8. Store Food Properly
If you store your food properly it can last a lot longer. Do you know which fruit and vegetables last longer in the fridge and which should be left at room temperature? You’d be surprised how long potatoes can last if stored in the right place.
9. Use a Compost Bin
For any vegetable peelings you haven’t used or leftover salad stuff that you just didn’t get round to eating make sure you compost it. By composting it you are preventing it from going to landfill but you still get the nutrients from the produce. Read how to compost at home for more information.
10. Take Action
A bit of a bonus one. Write to your MP & your local supermarket and tell them how important you think it is to reduce food waste and what you think those supermarkets should do with the food rather than throw it away. For example in France it’s illegal for supermarkets to dispose of food, they have to donate it to charity. Supermarkets in the UK could voluntarily do this or we could ask our MP’s to enforce it. Either way, it’s a good idea I think.
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