Hugh's War on Waste

honeythewitch

PasturesNew wrote: »

I shop so infrequently that I never see YS stuff. I might manage to get two YS items/year. I've never bought cream, or used it, so it'd be something just cluttering up the freezer. I've also some "fears" of using some frozen things - and cream frozen would make my stomach turn more than using fresh.... my mind would imagine it turning and curdling and tasting gross....and I'd end up binning it

YS is so rare that to even look for/find one pot of reduced cream would probably take 4-5 years to get a result.

It is a shame you have no YS things. Finding ways of using and storing it is almost a sport for me

I do think though, that I would be less bothered about using things up if I was just cooking for myself. I think I would just sling stuff rather than eat the same thing over and over. If eating becomes a chore it is as wasteful as throwing it away in my opinion.

honeythewitch

Goldiegirl wrote: »

I think that's a good point - we often see people saying they freeze leftovers, but if it's never used, is it just another way of throwing it out? If it surfaces two years later, and you can't remember what it is, then it'd probably get thrown out anyway

I can see how that might happen. Many a time I have defrosted a mystery item and had to improvise.

Nargleblast

I still think it is worth surplus fruit and veg being made up into fruit and veg packs and given out at food banks the next day, along with an info leaflet on how to prepare and cook the produce if the recipients needed it. That way people needing help from food banks would get a bit more variety in their diet.

[Deleted User]

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

If the supermarkets were to NOT reject misshaped veg but sell them along with the straight ones in the same bag then the farmers would not have to produce so many parsnips and there wouldn't be a large surplus at the end of the harvest.

If there wasn't a surplus, the supermarkets wouldn't be able to pick and choose. There isn't any mis-shapen milk, but the price of that is still being forced down to rock bottom by oversupply.

missbiggles1

PasturesNew wrote: »

I shop so infrequently that I never see YS stuff. I might manage to get two YS items/year. I've never bought cream, or used it, so it'd be something just cluttering up the freezer. I've also some "fears" of using some frozen things - and cream frozen would make my stomach turn more than using fresh.... my mind would imagine it turning and curdling and tasting gross....and I'd end up binning it

YS is so rare that to even look for/find one pot of reduced cream would probably take 4-5 years to get a result.

Cream is really cheap (55/60p in Tesco), so hardly a luxury or something you need to buy reduced. I think that most people who bought some to use in making soup would just use the rest in coffee or treat themselves to making their porridge with it, even if they didn't go in for puddings they could use it with.

missbiggles1

honeythewitch wrote: »

It is a shame you have no YS things. Find ways of using and storing it is almost a sport for me

I do think though, that I would be less bothered about using things up if I was just cooking for myself. I think I would just sling stuff rather than eat the same thing over and over. If eating becomes a chore it is as wasteful as throwing it away in my opinion.

You don't waste much if you have a dog!

eandjsmum

Many years ago I worked in a proper old fashioned greengrocers. We did sell the perfect fruit and veg that the supermarkets would not turn their noses up at, this was sold as class one produce and commanded premium price. We also sold fruit and veg that was not perfect maybe it had a blemish or was too large or too small this was sold as either class two or class three produce with a reduction in price to match. Class two and class three produce didn't get left on the shelf it was snapped up by budget concious housewives.
I'm not sure that supermarkets would do this now as it might either be too complicated for them to put into practice or may affect their profits.
I also have a shelf in the freezer for leftovers or freezing bit that will go off before I can use them.

I did find the programme interesting. Next week it is clothes wastage.

VfM4meplse

jack_pott wrote: »

As harrowing as it is for the individual farmers concerned, the inevitable consequence of increasing farm productivity in a country where bellies don’t need more food is that you either waste food, or some farmers go out of business. If we were to actually eat all the surplus food as HFW seems to expect, every man woman and child in the country would be gaining five stone a year in weight.

In a first world consumer society where the population has enough, the only way to grow the economy is by persuading people to waste more, not less, that’s why economic growth is environmentally damaging. What HFW is asking for but doesn’t seem to realise is an end to economic growth, and in that he has about as much chance of succeeding as shoving lard up a cats a r s e with a hot knife. When it comes to economic growth versus waste, we actually pay people to throw stuff away: butter mountains, wine lakes, car scrappage, boiler scrappage etc.

I just wish there was a way of redistributing our excess to those without enough to eat.

And re-structuring global food policy to reverse this stupidity.

Pollycat

Goldiegirl wrote: »

I think that's a good point - we often see people saying they freeze leftovers, but if it's never used, is it just another way of throwing it out? If it surfaces two years later, and you can't remember what it is, then it'd probably get thrown out anyway

That's why you need a system so you label what you put in your freezer & when it went in. AND keep a list of what's in there so you can rotate your stock.
I mean plan for 3: weeks at a time & sit with a cup of coffee with my freezer content list - which is split into raw stuff (eg mince) & 'ready' meals (eg home made chilli, bol etc) & decide what we're eating.

missbiggles1

Pollycat wrote: »

That's why you need a system so you label what you put in your freezer & when it went in. AND keep a list of what's in there so you can rotate your stock.
I mean plan for 3: weeks at a time & sit with a cup of coffee with my freezer content list - which is split into raw stuff (eg mince) & 'ready' meals (eg home made chilli, bol etc) & decide what we're eating.

I really do appreciate the importance of meal planning when on a budget and I also hate waste, however, I couldn't bear to know what I'd be eating every day for the next 3 weeks, or even for the next week if it comes to that.

How do you know what you'll fancy eating on any given day or doesn't that matter to you?