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It serves to start this post with some facts. In the UK, around one third of the food we produce never gets eaten and around 15 million tonnes of food gets through away, an average £700 per household worth of food a year. This isn’t an isolated problem, it’s global. When we face global problems of climate change and world hunger, how can we as not only a country but as individuals afford to be so detached? In truth, do you prioritise ways to reduce food waste in your day-to-day?
The War on Waste
At iRaw, we are passionate about social responsibility. This company is built on a simple idea to try and reduce food waste in the form of juice pulp. Collectively, food and the amount of energy required to produce, store, distribute and dump it in a landfill makes it a major greenhouse gas emitter. Not only that but once it’s in a landfill, it gives off toxic methane, 25 times more powerful than CO2. The issue is that fresh food is seen as this endless resource that we can just use as we please. It’s rare to really think about what happens to your waste past you putting it into a bin. If you had to challenge yourself to go zero waste for a week, could you do it? This should be a challenge for everyone, individuals and business alike; Reducing food waste is part of the goal in making sure we have enough food for the future and looking after our planet is so important.
Ways to reduce food waste: The supermarkets
One item being proposed at present that could impact food waste is a standardised methodology for UK supermarkets to report food waste figures. It’s even better to learn that most stores already elect to report food waste figures albeit through industry bodies, not individually. Tesco and Sainsbury’s are two exceptions and one articles notes:
“Less than 1% of food which passes through the Tesco supply chain now goes to waste, while Sainsbury’s, as part of a partnership with ReFood UK, now diverts unavoidable food waste from landfill to anaerobic digestion (AD) facilities nationwide. This has resulted in the generation of enough energy annually to power 5000 homes – equating to 10% of Sainsbury’s entire national gas consumption for the year.” (source)
Do you think big chains should do more? What about small businesses and especially those in the health industry? Is it fair to only spotlight big chains or should this be compulsory across the board for food industry business?
Ways to Reduce Food Waste: The consumer
We challenge you! Record every time you put food in the bin for a week. Just take note of how much plastic, wasted gone off food, leftovers and/or bin bags in total. If you want to take this up a step, try go waste free for a day.
Take inspiration from this lady: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYDQcBQUDpw
When you look in your fridge, is there anything you can reuse or repurpose to extend the shelf life? For example, when bananas/avocados start to brown or go soft, peel and put them into ziplock bags for freezing. You can add these to smoothies or blitz on their own for an ice-cream-like mix.
Or how about the ice cube tray – chop any herbs, pack into an ice cube dish and pour over with a little olive oil. Freeze and use for soups and stews! You can also freeze wine to add flavour to food!
Juice pulp can be used to make raw crackers – in fact this is how our Rapples and Sunshine Crackers came to be!
You’d be surprised but there’s probably a lot of room to reduce the amount you buy. How often does that bag of carrots get left sit or the broccoli get forgotten about? Simply setting a rule to use up certain ingredients before buying others can help challenge you in the kitchen to get a little more creative.
A simple tip is to take a #shelfie to bring with you on your shopping trip. This will help you pick out foods you need and avoid overstocking on items you already have!
Use the peel and seeds! Our founder, Asa, shares some tips:
‘Buy organic oranges and lemons and use the peel as spices (unwaxed that is) I’ve done this for years. I have also used avocado pip and the pip from mandarins etc to grow my own which was very successful.’ This article on growing an avocado tree will help explain.
Did you know you can actually eat the avocado seeds? There’s some recipe ideas in further explanation in this post on why you should eat the avocado seed.
iRaw Food Development
The core of iRaw Healthy Habits lies in reducing food waste. It’s the story of our very first product!
Once upon a time, a raw vegan foodie called Asa was feeling frustrated. She loved the benefits drinking juice and following a the raw vegan lifestyle gave her; endless energy, healthy body and mind. But what could she do with all the pulp?! It felt like an awful waste….
Asa’s first iRaw product began as a kitchen experiment. Late one day, while listening to Snoop Dog, she rolled up her sleeves and started thinking about what she could make from pulp. To the mixture of apples and carrots, she added some walnuts. Hmm, now to balance the sweet taste? Inca berries! And voila, the finished product: a raw vegan cracker now named Rapples.
All of our products have a similar story to tell – read more in this snack smarter post.