Easy & Tasty
Eco-nutrition Challenge!
Make the most of your leftovers today by doing these three things:
- Use up at least three things that have been in your fridge for a while - even if the sell-by date on fruit and vegetables indicates they are out of date, use your common sense and judge them on their appearance and smell.
- Make a recipe using last night’s leftovers - we have plenty of recipes to inspire you at www.weekofsoya.eu
- Create a way to compost. Put any food waste into compostable bags - then what do you do? Find out from your local council about facilities for disposing of food waste or set up your own compost heap in your garden.
Why?
Waste not, want not
Did you know we discard an enormous amount of uneaten food every year in Europe - plenty of it perfectly edible? Whether it’s through not using perishable food in time or simply cooking too much, European consumers are leaving a trail of food waste in their wake – and that’s not good news for our planet. So why not keep your leftovers and try making another delicious meal the next day?
Environmental factors
Not only is throwing away food a terrible waste, it has enormous environmental implications too. Every piece of food that ends up in the bin is a waste of the energy, water and packaging used in its production, transport and storage. And with around 15 per cent of the world’s population suffering from hunger and food prices threatening to spiral out of control as the population expands, we have a responsibility not to waste our food.
So what can consumers do?
Great ways to ensure you don’t end up buying more than you can consume are to write lists before you head to the supermarket; eat before you shop, so you’re not tempted to grab more food than you need on your way around the aisles; plan a weekly menu, so you only have more or less what you need in your fridge or cupboard; and weigh your food before you buy it.
Healthy you, Healthy Planet Facts
- The amount of food we throw away in a year in Europe and the US could feed the world three times over (www.nextgenerationfood.com).
- 15 per cent of the world’s population suffers from hunger and food prices are threatening to spiral out of control as the population expands.
- Rotting food sent to landfill does not behave like it would in a compost bin - it produces methane instead, which is 23 times more powerful at trapping heat than CO2.
- About one third of the food that is produced, processed, transported, sold and take home by consumers in the Western world is thrown away.
- WRAP (Waste and Resource Action Program), a UK based group, estimates that if British citizens all stop wasting food that could have been eaten, the CO2 impact would be the equivalent of taking one in four cars off the road in the UK.
Healthy you, Healthy Planet Tips
- Try making a soup with older vegetables from your fridge or store cupboard. It’s really easy to make and good for you too.
- Write a food menu for the rest of the week and stick to it - it means you won’t buy more than you need and can plan how you will use up what’s in your fridge. You’ll probably save some money too.
- Make effective use of your freezer. Making food in batches saves time and energy and once frozen, it can be defrosted to make quick and easy meals that are much more environmentally friendly and healthy than ready meals.
- Consider shopping online for bulky items, allowing you to pick up perishables on a top-up basis.
- Try to avoid Buy One, Get One Free deals on perishable items - you probably won’t be able to eat it all before it goes past its best. If you do buy food on promotion, make sure you give it away to somebody else if it’s approaching its use-by-date and you’re not going to consume it. Somebody else may really enjoy it.
- Take leftover food to work for lunch. It saves on making sandwiches first thing in the morning, uses up food and is cheaper than buying from the local sandwich shop.