Ideas to help you tackle waste this Food Waste Action Week
This Food Waste Action Week (7th – 13th
March), we’re serious about turning the tide on food waste and climate change and
we’d love you to get involved! With the easing of lockdown, household food waste
has begun to rise again as people fall back into old habits, so here are our
tips to help you take action on your food waste.
The hard truth about food waste
Approximately 4.5
million tonnes of edible food is thrown away each year by UK households –
the equivalent of 8 meals per week, 38 million wheelie bins or 90 Royal Albert
Halls! With approximately a third of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions
associated with food and drink, this is a major issue. How can you take action
on your food waste?
Don’t let plastic fool you into buying more than you need
Recent
research by sustainability charity WRAP has demystified the idea that
single-use plastic on fruit and veg helps prevent waste, debunking the claim
that your produce will stay fresher for longer this way. In fact, the study
found that plastic packaging makes little or no difference to their shelf life
and often makes you buy more than you need, worsening the problem of wasted
food.
Households in the UK throw away almost half a million tonnes
of fresh vegetables and salad and a quarter of a million tonnes of fresh fruit
– worth a massive £2.1bn – each year because it had gone mouldy or soft. WRAP’s
study found that if only five items – apples, bananas, broccoli, cucumber and
potatoes - were sold loose in the UK, it could save over 10,300 tonnes of
plastic and about 100,000 tonnes of food from being wasted each year. To
visualise, that’s equivalent to an enormous 14 million shopping baskets of
food!
Storing your loose fruit and veggies in the fridge at below
5 degrees is optimal for extending the life of your produce. In the case of
apples, the sustainable charity even found that this could give them months
more quality product life!
You’ll find plenty of fresh fruit and veggies in our plastic-free aisle. Take a look here.
Buy only what you need – and top up if you’re running low.
Rather than
over-buying and throwing away good food, buying in what you know you need is a
good idea. That’s where we can help! Top up your weekly orders with fresh
produce from our Best
of Local range, as and when you need it.
What’s more, 30% of global CO2 greenhouse gases are created from the production and distribution of food, so by buying local you can help protect the planet while you’re supporting local producers.
Love your leftovers
What about those leftover bits and bobs in your fridge that
you don’t know what do with? This Food Waste Action Week, we challenge you to
put your culinary skills to the test and get creative using your leftovers! If
you’re in need of inspiration, the More
Taste & Less Waste cookbook has over 80 clever recipes to shake up your
weekly menu while minimising waste.
Batch cooking and
freezing is also a fantastic way to make sure you’re using up all your produce
– chop veg into big pots of stews and bolognaises and freeze for a rainy day.
