by Daphne Lambert
Roughly one-third of food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted globally. Food waste is generated at different stages of the food process, – on the farm, by processors, by supermarkets and at home.
In the UK WRAP research shows in 2021/22 we threw away 6.4 million tonnes of household food (and drink) waste, 4.7 million tonnes, was food we could have eaten.
Binning food is a huge waste of the precious materials & effort it took to bring that food into your kitchen. It wastes soil, water, and nutrients as well as all the resources used to produce, package, store and transport it.
1. Whiz up a soup with vegetables past their best. Serve with a dollop of pesto to make it extra tasty, nettle pesto in the spring, basil in the summer, kale in the winter.
2. Bananas are the most wasted fruit. Turn them into banana bread or alternatively peel, chunk & freeze bananas that are on their way to becoming over ripe. Use in smoothies.
3. Eat the skin; potato skins contain more nutrients than the actual potato; cucumber skin contains vitamin K which is essential for bone health and blood clotting.
4. Use beetroot leaves in salads and stir fries.
5. Use up ripe fruit in smoothies or make a fruit leather.
6. Turn stale rye bread into kvass - a fizzy lacto - bacteria drink your gut will love.
7. Turn stale bread into breadcrumbs. Dry in the residual heat of the oven after cooking store when completely dry store in an airtight container.
8. Turn citrus peel into a seasoning. Cut into thick strips, remove any flesh, trim off excess pith & dry in a dehydrator or oven. Grind and store in an airtight jar.
9. Use left-over dahl to make flatbreads and left over pulses houmus
10. Use left-over herbs to flavour oils & vinegar or make a salsa verde.
11. Too many herbs? Chop and pack into an ice cube tray, cover with oil or water and freeze, ready to pop out when you need them
12. Learn to be flexible about recipe ingredients. Substitute with what’s at hand rather than buying more ingredients.
13. Get creative with your scraps & trimmings. Turn them into chutney, muffins, juices, stock.
14. Bulk cook and freeze in portions so you can defrost just the amount needed.
15. Keep vegetables like celery & asparagus fresher longer by storing with their stems in water.
16. Bottle, dry, pickle, ferment. Learn to preserve and keep a well-stocked larder of homemade delights.
17. Be creative with leftovers. Turn them into another dish - don't start a new recipe every day!
18. Hot supper leftovers are easy to turn into a salad for lunch the next day - pasta salad? rice salad?
19. Use your senses, does it look good? Does it smell ok? – Is a food really past its ‘use by’ date & is food only good by the ‘best before’ date? Remember 'best before' is simply a suggestion!
20. If you don’t think you are going to eat your leftovers within two days, freeze them!
21. Cook on days off work in preparation for evening meals when you have less time and might be tempted to use a takeaway (with all that packaging!)
22. Master a couple of flexible go to recipes to help you transform your leftovers into a new meal,
see frittata & below
23. If you have a garden - coffee grounds can be used as a plant fertiliser - high in nitrogen, phosphorous & potassium just sprinkle thinly on soil. Crush eggshells & place around plants
to deter slugs.
24. Start composting - there’s a method & size to suit every household.
25. It helps if you are organised and meal plan. You don’t have to be obsessive about this, but it does help minimise leftovers.
26. Check what you need before you go shopping & write a shopping list. Lists help you buy only what you need.
27. Don’t fall into the trap of saving money by bulk buying if you are going to struggle to use it.
28. Keep your fridge below 5C to keep food fresher for longer and keep your fridge organised. Rotate your food so that last-in is at the back, first-in at the front.
29. Go gleaning Gleaning Network - Fighting Food Waste Across the UK
30. Help reduce waste while providing other people with something they may want or need with a local sharing app like Olio https://olioapp.com/en/