Eat More, Bin Less

You start the week with good intentions, stocking up on fruit and vegetables to get your daily recommended servings. Then life gets in the way. By Friday you find yourself binning not only fruit and vegetables, but excess bread, milk and eggs.

Globally, an estimated 1.3 billion tonnes of food is wasted each year. That’s a staggering one-third of all food produced for human consumption, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. And it doesn’t just damage our household budget, it affects the planet too.


Food in landfill

Fewer than three out of 10 of us recognise the impact food waste has on the environment. When food goes into landfill, it decomposes and produces methane, a greenhouse gas 25 times stronger than carbon dioxide. If you can, compost your food waste (even small balconies can accommodate a worm farm) or investigate whether your local council collects food scraps for compost. According to the FAO, home composting has the potential to divert up to 150kg of food waste per household annually.


What are we doing wrong?

1. We cook too much food.

Solution: Unless you’ll be eating the leftovers within a few days, or plan to freeze them, cook for your needs.

2. We throw out perfectly good food.

Solution: You don’t necessarily have to throw out foods as soon as they reach the ‘best-before’ date. There’s a difference between use-by dates and best-before dates. Foods stamped with a use-by date should be eaten or frozen by this date as they are more perishable. But foods with a best-before date can be eaten after this date, as they are less perishable and usually perfectly acceptable.

3. We don’t know how to use food that’s past its best

Solution: Revive wilted vegetables by plunging them in a bowl of iced water. Use them to make pesto, curry or soup, fry them up with garlic, blend them into a smoothie, or make them into a vegetable soup. Lightly cook fruit that’s gone soft, then use them to top your morning muesli or weekend pancakes, layer with natural yoghurt, make into muffins or crumbles, or use to fill a fruit tart.

4. We buy takeaways at the last minute before cooking the food we have at home

Solution: Search online for recipes that take 20 minutes or less – and plan them in advance.

5. We buy too much food.

Solution:

  • check the cupboard and fridge before shopping so you don’t double up
  • shop with a meal plan and a list and stick to it,
  • only buy in bulk if you can use it before it spoils
  • don’t shop when you’re hungry, as studies show you’ll buy more food than you need.

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