Monday 18th March marks the beginning of Food Waste Action Week; shining a light on how simple behaviours to reduce food waste can save us time, money and of course FOOD. With the cost of feeding ourselves rising faster than the Derwent levels, it’s no wonder we’re even more motivated to eat well on a budget and reduce waste to a minimum.
WRAP are the climate action NGO who bring us #foodwasteactionweek. Each year WRAP publish research on global waste habits and guidance for waste reductions, both for industry and for households.
We asked our staff team to share their Top Tips for reducing Food Waste, and were met with interesting, frank and often humorous responses.
At least once a week raid the freezer and defrost something random, thereby making room for more random leftovers. Garlicky Mushroom Pasta Bake with a side of sweet red “christmas cabbage”; what’s not to love?!
Coleslaw, in its many varieties.
GIANT tupperware to chuck all the lovely fresh leaves in the fridge straight away, thereby keeping them fresh for longer. Don’t have giant tupperware? Try wrapping them in a slightly damp tea towel.
Don’t have home compost? Talk to your neighbours. Who has? Does anyone have an allotment and want their compost system feeding? Don’t want the compost bin smelling up your kitchen? Freeze the compostable scraps in a tub or tough plastic bag til Allotment Day.
For speedy, cheap breadcrumbs, blend the crusts and ends of loaves. Homemade hash browns never tasted so good.
Save your skins. Dried orange peels make fragrant and effective natural firelighters. Triple win as they are difficult to compost, free, and better for burning than those plastic wrapped petrolly-smelling yaks.
Fussy eaters? Literally put the TINIEST portions of the components of the meal on the plate (not touching each other!) and tell everyone to politely ask for more of the things they like. (Let the green/beige foodstuff bargaining games begin!) Rule of thumb; “you don’t have to like it, but you do have to taste it to know whether you actually like or dislike it.” Tiny portions = No more crying inside as you shovel down their leftovers you couldn’t bear to chuck out, and yayyyy for plenty of the stuff you like still in the serving dish untouched by child spit or hands.
Community Eating. We all gotta eat. Save on the energy bills with Bring-a-dish dinners. one oven on, one kitchen full, who needs the heating on? Also, why not instigate batch cooked meal swaps with the neighbours, so that you none of you tire of the same old recipes?
Just pudding for me. Cheeky, yeah, but everyones a winner! A bit too skint to go out for a meal with friends? Have some toast before you go out, and just order a pudding. Good mates will insist you try a bit of their grub/you get to polish off the bits they can’t finish and give everyone a taste of the delicious pud! Clean plates, Happy mates.
Running out of ideas for how to use the produce in your veg box? Head to our recipes page for more ideas.
– Big thanks to Jess in our Box Packing team for collecting these ideas for us to share.
