Love Food Hate Waste

Did you know that every year over 7 million tonnes of food waste are produced by UK households alone? That’s about £12bn worth, or around a fifth of all the food we buy in the shops.

This causes huge environmental problems, partly because it is a massive waste of all the resources and energy that go into producing that food, and also due to the fact that most of this food waste ends up in landfill, where it produces methane, a highly potent greenhouse gas. In fact, if we could end all food waste in the UK, the environmental effect would be like taking one in every five cars off our roads.

Food waste is also obviously a massive waste of money. Throwing away food we have bought is no different to throwing money away – and the average family house is estimated to throw away up to £50 worth of perfectly good food a month; around £600 a year.

The good news…is that there are very easy ways to avoid this food waste, make the most of our food, and save ourselves a lot of cash. Does your bread and milk frequently go off before you’ve used it all up? Do you often cook too much rice or pasta and end up throwing a lot of it away? Do you find date labels confusing? The Love Food Hate Waste campaign is a fantastic source of inspiration and advice to help. Discover the simple steps you can take to avoid food waste:

Planning: Use a meal planner to show you how much food you need to buy each week – this can

significantly reduce both the amount we spend and waste. Make sure you are aware of the food you have left in the fridge and cupboard that needs

using up, and incorporate this into your meals before buying new food. Write a shopping list and stick to it!

Shopping: Remember your shopping list! Don’t go shopping when you’re hungry! Buy what you need – all else is false economy. E.g. will you get through 4 pints of milk before

it goes off, or should you buy it a pint at a time? Only buy “extra free”/BOGOF offers if you know you are able to eat the extra or freeze it.

Know your dates:The different date labels often confuse us into thinking that we need to throw everything away once it is past its date – this is not the case! Check the item to see what type of date it has:

Use-By – this refers to food safety. You should use the food before or on its date as it is very likely to be harmful beyond this. (Tip – it can be frozen before the date and kept frozen beyond it, as long as you cook it as soon as it is defrosted). Use-By dates are commonly found on meat and dairy products.

Best Before – this refers to food quality: before the date, the item is likely to be at its best, but this does not mean it will have gone off afterwards. You should look at the food to see its

condition. (For perishable foods like bread and salad, the Best Before date is probably a good indication that you should use it up soon; but you don’t have to throw it away after the date has passed!).

Sell-By/Display Until – this is for the attention of the shop staff, not shoppers, and you can ignore it completely.

Savvy storage:A lot of food is wasted because it goes off in the fridge and cupboard before we have had a chance to eat it. Aside from planning, and checking your stocks regularly, here are some tips to avoid this wastage by storing food as effectively as possible:

Most fresh food keeps longer in the fridge – fruits like apples and pears last up to two weeks longer than if you leave them out in a fruit bowl.

Keep food in the fridge wrapped up to retain moisture. The original packaging is designed to keep it fresh for longer. Be careful not to bruise lettuce.

Revive wilted veg or salad leaves by standing the ends in a bowl of water in the fridge – they will crisp up again!

Some foods should not be stored in the fridge, e.g. fruit like bananas and pineapples. Store potatoes and onions somewhere dark, dry and cool.

Bread goes stale quicker in the fridge (although it keeps it from going mouldy longer if the room is warm). It is best stored somewhere cool and dry; or you can freeze it and use it slice-by-slice – or freeze half a loaf when you buy it.

If you have cooked in bulk, freeze the leftovers in portion-sized amounts in plastic tubs or freezer bags. That way you can eat it when you want, and just defrost enough for a meal at a time.

Perfect Portions:Measuring your portions means that you know exactly how much you are cooking – especially when cooking things like pasta and rice which swell up deceptively when cooked:

You don’t need scales or a special measurer; use ordinary household vessels to measure your portions – a mug, cup, jug, tablespoon. Work out how much is the right amount for you, and stick to using it.

Use Love Food Hate Waste’s interactive portion guide to know how much to cook per person. Think about how much you need to eat to satisfy your hunger – do we often serve ourselves a

bit too much for each meal?

Lovely leftovers: If you have cooked more than you can eat in one mealtime, don’t throw it away! Store it in the

fridge and have it for next day’s lunch, freeze it and eat it for another meal, or turn it into something else with Love Food Hate Waste’s creative recipes! There are hundreds online, so be inspired!

Keep plenty of dry “store cupboard essentials” (e.g. pasta, rice, pulses, jars of sauce) in stock so that you can easily use up any leftovers you have.

Food Waste Diary:

Use Love Food Hate Waste’s online Food Waste Diary to find out how much food you really waste in a week – you might be surprised!

www.lovefoodhatewaste.com

You can also find out about what the North London Waste Authority is doing to prevent food waste – visit nlwa.gov.uk/foodwaste for news on events and competitions.