Every single day we throw away a huge amount of food in the UK.
To be exact, we waste:
- 5.8 million whole potatoes
- 1.3 million whole apples
- 1.5 million whole tomatoes
- 1.5 million sausages
- 300,000 unopened packets of crisps, and much, much more...
This is a waste of your family's money...
In England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales we spend £12.5 billion every year buying and then throwing away good food and drink. This is £700 a year, thrown away, for every family, or a massive £60 a month. Imagine the fun you could have with that extra money you’ve all saved!
And it's bad for the environment...
Harmful gases, such as carbon dioxide and methane, are produced when this food rots in landfill. The energy used to make your food all goes to waste when we throw away food. Take the humble chip, for example. The farmer plants the seed potato, waters it, fertilises it, harvests the finished crop, sends it to the factory, where it's then turned into delicious chips, packaged to keep it in good condition, and sent to the shops and frozen. We then drive or get the bus to the shops, drive it home, put it in the freezer, cook it, put it on our plate, decide we’re too full to eat it and then throw it into the bin. What a waste!
If we stop wasting good food and drink it would have the same impact as taking 1 in every 4 cars you see off the roads.
So what can you do to come to the rescue and save our food? Here are Love Food Hate Waste’s top 10 feats, fit for a food waste hero:
(why not print this and tick them off as you go?)
- Do a food waste diary with everyone at home before you start so you can just what you’re throwing away and then do one a week or two later after you’ve followed the Love Food Hate Waste top tips and see just how much food you’ve saved from going in the bin and how much money you’ve saved for everyone
- Plan together – sit down and read through the cook books at home, or at school or in the library – make a few suggestions at home for meals for the week ahead so that only food you know will get eaten is bought
- Have an adventure and explore what’s already in the fridge, freezer and cupboards – tell an adult to scribble it off the shopping list if you already have it
- Ask to get involved – when the shopping comes home make sure all your fruit and veg (except potatoes, onions, pineapple and bananas!) go into the fridge and not the fruit bowl or cupboard. They’ll keep fresh and crisp for up to two weeks longer – no more soft squishy apples in the lunchbox!
- Ask if meals can be served up in dishes in the centre of the table so everyone can help themselves. This means that any leftovers can be frozen into portions for another time rather than left on someone’s plate only to be scrapped into the bin. Offer to help with the washing up…
- Your freezer really is your kitchen hero – pretty much anything can be frozen, from grated cheese, to leftover meals to whipped cream. Just don’t forget to have a meal from the freezer each week to make sure they don’t turn into UFOs – unidentified frozen objects!
- Have a quick check in the fridge each day and have what needs using up first in your sarnies so nothing goes to waste – be the envy of your friends with your lunchtime inventions
- Get to be the household date label expert! 'Use by' dates are really important as they are about safety – never eat after the 'use by', but you can freeze up until this date or even eat it on the day itself. Best before (BB) dates are just about when the food is at its freshest – it’s nothing to do with safety so you can eat it after this date. Ignore ‘display-until’ (DU) and ‘sell-by’ (SB) – that’s just for the shop staff, and nothing to do with us. Every day check the fridge to see if things are approaching their 'Use by' date and if you're not going to get round to eating them, pop them in the freezer for another day.
- Those leftovers from last night’s evening meal can make a great lunchbox to take to school
- Explore this website for more ideas about storing your food at home, new recipes for tonight's dinner (simply click on 'Recipes' above, type in an ingredient and take a look at our wide range of recipes), and how to write the best shopping list ever! Oh, and don’t forget to tell an adult!
Thanks for being a food waste hero!
Love Food Hate Waste working together with Warburtons to help us all waste less food, save money, and help the environment