I don’t know about you but I absolutely hate wasting food. I’d rather buy too little groceries than buy too much. I feel so guilty if I have to throw out food because it’s gone bad. Many people will be extra vigilant in their food wastage, especially because of these recessionary times. There are many ways to curb food waste. I have managed to narrow my list down to ten.
The best way to curb food waste is to make a grocery shopping list and try your best to stick to it. Every week go through your meal plans and look through your cupboards before adding a new food item to your list. Maybe you already have the food at the back of your cupboard, so there’s no need to buy it again.
It’s a good idea to buy items that can be frozen. If you do end up buying too much food then at least you can freeze the item for a later date. Frozen fruit and vegetables are just as healthy and nutritious as fresh fruit and vegetables, but frozen food will keep for a lot longer than fresh, so you can defrost your vegetables and fruit as you need them.
Set yourself a budget for food shopping every week. Don’t be too generous with your budget, try to keep it tight. Then you will be forced to only buy what you need.
Tins are also a good idea to have in stock. They usually have a long sell-by date and are often quite nutritious and tasty.
It’s a good idea to try baking your own bread and pastries. You will need a supply of flour and other ingredients, but again, you can bake as required, rather than buying extra food which will often be wasted.
Another way to curb your food waste is to cut down on eating out in restaurants. You have budgeted and planned the meals for the week, and if you are going out to eat then your dinner for that particular evening will often go to waste.
If you can’t avoid wasting food occasionally, then most foods can often be used as garden fertiliser, so instead of wasting the food, you are recycling it.
Instead of wasting leftover food, as long as it is still fresh, then you can try being inventive with your leftover food ingredients. It doesn’t take much to make a very delicious stew or stirfry, for example, from leftover fresh vegetables.
If you know that you are going to have leftover food at the end of the week then maybe you could invite your family or friends over for dinner. It’s certainly better than wasting it and everyone appreciates the time and effort of a home-cooked meal.
If you have leftover food, maybe you could have a food-swap with your friends. They might have food that you need and vice versa. It’s certainly better than wasting good food.
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