Reducing food waste

Love Food Hate Waste

We all work hard to buy the food we eat but the average household throws a third of what they buy.

Five ways to save money and prevent food waste:

1. get friendly with your fridge: just by opening the fridge door and checking the ‘use by’ dates on items you can prioritise what to eat first
2. cupboard savvy: stocking your store cupboard and freezer with a variety of canned, dried and frozen goods with a long shelf-life means you will always have the ingredients standing by to jazz up your leftovers
3. carb control: learn how to make just enough rice and pasta for the number of people you’re cooking for.
4. love your leftovers: being creative with your food is the clever way to save cash. With a little bit of thought you can create some delicious surprises from your leftovers - they don’t have to mean second best
5. it pays to plan! Check your fridge, freezer and store cupboard before you go shopping, then write a list so you don’t shop for things you already have.

Save £50 per month by reducing food waste

The average household throws away between £420 and £600 worth of edible food each year. There are also environmental impacts. Most of the food thrown away ends up in landfill where it produces methane, a highly potent greenhouse gas.

We asked residents in the High Barnet area to share the little things they do to make the most of the food they buy. Here are a few of them:

• cut stale bread into cubes and fry for croutons
• potatoes, greens, carrots and leftovers. Mix and fry for bubble and squeak
• whatever delicious meal you cook in the evening, take the leftovers to work for lunch the next day and make your work-mates jealous and curious
• use bruised or brown fruit to make smoothies or milkshakes
• make sure you eat the oldest yoghurt next
• always ensure the oldest bottle of milk is the most accessible in the fridge!
• Yorkshire puddings with a twist – pour batter over leftovers and bake it in a hot oven
• when making muffins, add ‘tired’ fruit
• over ripe bananas can be made into banana cake
• put food in the freezer
• make breadcrumbs out of stale or waste bread and freeze them
• leftover cooked vegetables can go into an omelette. Fresh veg past its best can go into a stir-fry
• make soup from leftover vegetables and chicken
• make up recipes from your leftovers – experiment