Niamh Headon

President, Ballymore Eustace ICA Guild.

Ballymore Eustace Tidy Towns

May 2015.

*Reducing Food Waste at Home

*Why?

*Food waste is a real problem and it is costing Irish householders €700 each year.

*Most of our wasted food ends up in landfills where it has significant local environmental impacts.

*But long before we even buy our food there are a whole load of other environmental costs associated with getting our food into our trolleys.

* From: stopfoodwaste.ie

*Food cloud

*Ireland = 5th worst waster of food in Europe.

*IF 50,000 PEOPLE in Ireland reduce food waste by just 1 kilogram per week, just over €1 million will be saved, that’s the equivalent of over 5.7 million meals.”

*That is according to Food cloud, 

*Thejournal.ie

*Definition

*Food waste or food loss is food that is discarded or lost uneaten. The causes of food waste or loss are numerous, and occur at the stages of production, processing, retailing and consumption.

*Loss and wastage occurs at all stages of the food supply chain 

*Food waste is food loss occurring during the retail and final consumption stages due to the behaviour of retailers and consumers – that is, the throwing away of food.

*Causes

*Production: pests, weather, storage

*harvesting selectively, preferring to leave crops not to standard in the field

*Processing:Storage (pests & micro-organisms), extremes of temperature and humidity

*Retail: Retail stores can throw away large quantities of food.

*best before, sell-by or use-by dates* From wikipedia

*Food waste • 300,000 tonnes of food

going to waste in Ireland

• 60% is avoidable food waste 

• 20% is potentially avoidable food waste,

• 20% is unavoidable food waste 

• Concentrate on Potatoes, Apples and Bananas… with a bit of salad on the side.

*Benefits

*€€€€

*Environment

*Reduce Methane From Landfills

*Lower Disposal Costs

*Less packaging

*Solutions

*Strategies

*Do a Food Waste Assessment

*Reduce over-purchasing of food 

*Reduce prep waste and improperly cooked food

*Consider secondary uses for excess food 

*Ensure proper storage techniques 

*Reduce Plate Waste

*Modify your meals

*Food Waste Challenge

*How to reduce food waste

* Know Your Food Waste

* Separate your food waste 

* Record your waste

* Identify the reasons

* Ten Top Shopping Tips

1. Don’t go shopping when you are hungry

2. Plan your meals ahead.

3. Check your fridge, freezer and cupboards before you go shopping, and plan meals around what you find.

4. Stick to your shopping list

5. Beware of special deals

6. Try to buy loose fruit and

7. Check use-by-dates

8. Poke around at the back of shelves – you’ll often find use-by dates that are further away.

9. Shop for what you actually eat, not for what you want/wish you would eat

10. If it’s an option for you, try shopping online for the basics

*Eat seasonably

May• Rhubarb & asparagus

• Spinach cauliflower

• Lettuce

• Cucumber.

http://eatseasonably.co.uk/what-to-eat-now/calendar/

*Serving and proper portions

*Misc

*Feed food scraps to animals

*Composting – reduce disposal

*WASTE MANAGEMENT (FOOD WASTE) REGULATIONS 2009

*Alternatives to most wasted

foods

*Recipe leaflet.

* Potatoes, Apples & Bananas

*EPA research shows that potatoes, bananas and apples are the most wasted fruit and veg.

*Look at how many you use and how many you don’t

*Buy individually rather than in a bag / bundle if you have a lot of waste.

*False economy.

*Uses for Apples

*Apple sauce

*Smoothies

*Stir into porridge as it cooks

*Apple pie

*Can use eating apples

*Best choice for a French apple tart, a tart tatan or other continental recipes, 

*Fruit salad

*Pickles

*Relishes

*Chutneys

* Jams

*Apple & Cinnamon Bread

*Apple Juice

*Freeze

*Make Cider

*Apple & Honey facial

*Candle holder

*Some recipes…

*Potato Solutions

*Use potato skins (cooked) to feed chicken

*Mince Sunday roast beef / lamb and use left over mash to make cottage / shepherds’ pie.

* Potato cakes

* Lemon & orange cake (gluten free baking)

*Croquettes

*Gnocchi

* Soups

* Thickening for sauces

* Potato > Use alternatives:

* Rice

* Pasta

* Cous Cous

* Bulgar Wheat

* Quinoa

*Chickpea mash

*Quinoa

*Gluten free

*Source of protein, iron and fibre.

*Wholegrain

*RINSE BEFORE COOKING

*Recipes for salads in leaflet

*Bothersome Bananas

*Banana

*Skins to fertilise garden

*Banana bread

*Fairy cakes

*Muffins

*Smoothie

*Salads & Fruit & Veg

*Smoothies

*… cake and treat baking

*Most lettuce was cooked originally.

*Stir fry

*Soup

*Lasagne

*Shepard's Pie

*Homemade Pizza

*Cottage Pie

*Make your own pie.

*Credits / Resources

*http://www.epa.gov/foodrecovery/fd-reduce.htm

*http://www.stopfoodwaste.ie/food-we-waste/

*http://foodcloud.ie/

*http://www.stopfoodwaste.ie/

*http://eatseasonably.co.uk/what-to-eat-now/calendar/

*

*End