Love Food Hate Waste

If you only have time on this visit to read the first sentence, this is the thought we want you to take away:

Good food is something to love and relish, and we can do more to cut down on how much we waste.

Food accounts for about 20% of household waste. Surprisingly we throw away more food than packaging.

• Around a third of all the food we buy in the UK ends up being thrown away. Whilst some of this waste is not edible (bones etc) there is plenty of good food that could have been eaten.
• The average household spends £400 on food per year that was not eaten.
• In the UK we throw away 6.7 million tonnes of food each year. Much of this ends up in landfill sites.
• The wasted food ends up in landfill, unable to decompose properly because, squashed under all the other waste, it doesn’t have any access to air. So instead methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, is produced which contributes to global warming.

Visit the website: www.lovefoodhatewaste.com

Top Tips

One of the aims of the ‘Love Food Hate Waste’ campaign is to provide everyone with helpful and practical hints and tips on how to enjoy the food we buy, and cut down on the amount of good food thrown away. 

Here are some ideas we thought we’d share:

Stop before you shop

• Check what is in your cupboard or freezer, not forgetting the back of the fridge, before you shop for more.
• Make a list and shop with meals in mind. This will mean that you do not buy food unnecessarily and save you time and money.
• Be careful of special offers and multi-buys especially on fresh goods – make sure you will use them.

Use it or lose it

Keep an eye on perishables you have and plan to eat meals with in their ‘use by’ date. View our advice about food date stamps.

Love your leftovers

Meals made from leftovers can be delicious and timesaving – whether its dinner from the night before or food left in the fridge or cupboard. Do your own ‘Ready Steady Cook’ and see what meals you can make. Try using an on-line recipe database to give you some inspiration. When cooking for a family – take a few minutes to measure food out – perhaps into a favourite cup – so you get the right portion per person.

No more soggy surprises

• Keeping your fridge between 1-5 degrees centigrade helps you get the best of your food.
• Leaving food such as milk, cooked meat and salad can cut shelf life by 100%.
• Make good use of the fridge and freezer to keep food better – for example, most ripe fruit can be kept in the fridge to make it last longer.

Consider your options

Chilled and fresh food has become more popular over recent years – however sometimes it may be worth purchasing frozen or ambient food to increase shelf life at home. This is particularly useful if your meal times are more unplanned due to work or family schedules.

Remember, that often fresh and chilled produce can be frozen at home if it is not going to be used in time.

Storage Solutions

You can also influence the shelf life of your cupboard storage,

• Store root vegetables in a dark place away from other fruit and vegetables.
• Store cereals, flour, rice, pasta and other dry goods in airtight containers.
• Close packets and bags with airtight bag clips. There are many ingenious products available to protect the quality of your food.

Start composting at home

Home compost your peelings and cores, this is a great way to prevent unavoidable food waste such as peelings, cores and teabags ending up in landfill and can do wonders for the garden. Home Composting.