15p out of every £ spent on food is thrown away....what a waste

thriftlady_2

Great thread CTC:T

I've been reading a book called The New Spend Less Revolution by Rebecca Ash. A great read for people wishing to get off the spend-consume-waste treadmill. It has a chapter on spending less on food - nothing new but it's nice to have your own ideas and practices validated by seeing them in print Anyway one of the statistics in the food chapter is this
£20 billion of food is thrown away each year - 5 times more than we spend on aid

A disgraceful state of affairs, if we wasted less, not only would we be richer but others would be too.

mikeywills

kittie wrote: »

I have weaned myself away and no longer shop at any big supermarket and have zero waste :T

I have just placed an online order at goodness direct and ok I have to think in advance but I have left the impulse-buying generation far behind. Craigfarm organics meat order is coming today and riverford veg came yesterday

I am just making an allsorts soup ie items which need to be eaten and this week I am using a squash, some jerusalem artichokes, carrots. I also want to take a couple of items out of my tiny freezer so I have thrown in some cooked pulses and some leeks I froze when there was a glut in the box

lol if all else fails then make a soup with leftovers

Kittie, although I commend you no longer using supermarkets, and choosing organic produce this is a step in the right direction. However, have you considered what kind of carbon footprint are you creating here. I am not sure where you live but 'Graig farm' is in mid wales, 'goodness direct' is in northampton and 'riverford' can be transported from all over the country.

I think waste not want not is a very sensible philosophy, but we really also need to check out our local suppliers by using someone like bigbarn, farmers markets, and local fairs to find good quality local produce.

If you have a flat and no garden, you could always buy a waste disposer and remove all waste through your waste water. Water companies collect and compost waste so its not a lost cause, and keeps your bins clean and non smelly.

ecsb

i throw hardly any, if any food waste away, my son even takes cold spag bol in his lunch box.in contrast to my friend who throws everything away. it is now a joke as when i visit i bring her leftovers home.

lil_me

I used to throw away a huge amount, not any more I now get cross when I see people wasting excessively. Especially the likes of those who will make a tuna sandwich with a tin of tuna and throw over half in the bin!

Only downside is the dogs are now extremely disappointed as they used to get most of the 'thrown away' food.

scrimperjan

I try, I really do, but I have to admit I am guilty of throwing away a small amount of fruit & veg. most weeks. Maybe the problem is that most of us just do one big weekly shop, and it's quite difficult to judge how much fresh stuff you're going to need in a week. I feel so virtuous when I load my trolley with fresh fruit and veg, but by time what's left of it has been festering away in the bottom of the fridge for a week it's so tempting to think 'Right! Let's have a fresh start!' and get rid of the black bananas and the bendy carrots. I suppose, as with most aspects of money saving, planning is the key!

scotgirl

mikeywills wrote: »

If you have a flat and no garden, you could always buy a waste disposer and remove all waste through your waste water. Water companies collect and compost waste so its not a lost cause, and keeps your bins clean and non smelly.

Does anyone have anymore information on this? We also live in flat and I always assumed I could not do anything with my compost type waste but bin it.

I would be interested in hearing a bit more about how we can get rid of this waste more ethically?

Hardup_Hester

Hubby & I were watching TV together when they said about how much food is wasted. Hubby said, 'you don't waste that much, if something doesn't move, you make soup out of it'
I didn't realise he'd noticed, lol.

MATH

Almost nothing wasted here at Chez MATH.

Here is an example of how 'tight' I am:

Yorkshire puddings are a must for Sunday Lunch, the MATHLETTS would lynch me if I didn't make them. However, 1/2 pt batter isn't enough and the oven isn't large enough to make 1 pt of batters worth (although they would eat them all without much trouble:rolleyes: ). What I need is 3/4pt batter.

Someone less 'careful' than I would probably chuck 1/4pt of batter down the drain without a thought, but the knowledge of such waste would haunt me all week, so each Sunday I make a pint of batter, use 3/4pt and freeze 1/4 pt, ont the fourth sunday I defrost the 'dregs' and we enjoy 'free' yorkies. LOL

Hardup_Hester

I also make more Yorkies than we need, but we eat some with sunday lunch & some for afters, with lemon juice/sugar/golden syrup/jam etc
Hester

THIRZAH

I make pancakes out of leftover yorkshire pudding batter and freeze them.