Food waste has always been an issue in kitchens of all sizes.
Reducing food waste at home not only helps the environment, it also saves money.
We spoke to Durbanville Hills head chef, Tamzyn Ehlers on how we can reduce food waste in our kitchens, and below is what she said.
- Recycle as much as you can. Food waste can be used to make compost, given to pig farmers for feed. Have assigned bins for plastic, paper, tins and food waste and recycle them accordingly.
- Make use of common throw away products such as the chickpea brine for egg replacements, drying out and crushing eggshells for a nutritional supplement, make candied treats from fruit skins or chips out of potato skins.
- Re-use the packaging of products such as tins for utensil holders, plastic containers for storage or coffee jars for decorative or preserving purposes.
- Make fruit preserves or pickled vegetables that are close to their expiry date to avoid having to discard them.
- Create grocery lists before shopping as you can avoid buying unnecessary overflow of products and having to throw them away. Do not buy fresh produce too long in advance and ensure correct storage of products to prevent them from expiring quicker.