By Charli
Stop Food Waste
This ‘Stop Food Waste’ Day, we are pledging to reduce the amount of food that we throw away in order to help combat climate change (and save a little money). We’ve come up with some simple suggestions that we can all do.
Photo by Sri Lanka on Unsplash
The facts:
33% of all food produced globally is lost or wasted every year
25% of the food wasted globally could feed all 795 million undernourished people in the world
8% of all greenhouse gas emissions each year are due to food loss and waste – Stop Food Waste Day
Perfection matters a little too much to us – 20-40% of fruit and veg is scrapped by retailers and never actually makes it to the shelves, because it is rejected for not being perfect. And we chuck 30-50% of food in our homes because of the ‘best before’ or ‘use by’ dates – £1 billion of food waste is actually still in date – Delivery Rank
How to reduce waste at home
There are some simple ways that you can cut down on the food you throw away:
- Shop smartly, buying food that can be used for multiple meals throughout the week
- Check the dates on your food, making sure to eat in the right order, but don’t obsess over ‘best before’ dates – use common sense to see when something has gone off
- Freeze what you can’t eat
- Host a dinner with friends if food needs eating up
- Love your leftovers: we may throw away food thinking it’s waste, but there are plenty of things we can do with the leftovers. Try some of the delicious Stop Food Waste Day Recipes, or some of our own:
You can read more of our tips here.
Great waste-reduction initiatives
Some clever, thoughtful people have also come up with apps that can help reduce food waste. Try using Too Good To Go and Karma to save food that is going to be thrown away from restaurants (including delicious, discounted food), or try Olio which provides a platform for neighbours to share unwanted food.
Volunteer or support charities that redistribute surplus food, to tackle waste and fight hunger at the same time. FareShare and The Felix Project (London area) collect nutritious food that cannot be sold from shops, cafés and restaurants. Volunteers then repack and deliver it to vulnerable people through charities and schools.
Oddbox sells surplus or wonky fruit and veg directly from farmers, to reduce the amount of produce that would be chucked away. It’s a fruit and veg box subscription service, delivered to your door.
Find out more:
10 Meal Prep Hacks to Save Time and Money
Includes tips on freezing & using up leftovers
Food Waste – Friends of the Earth
