With the release of a shocking article from the Independent just last week, stating that the ‘UK’s largest supermarkets throw away enough food for 190 million meals each year’, it’s clear that food waste is an issue that is not going away. What’s worse, around 8.4 million people in the UK are struggling to afford to eat, even though over 2 million tonnes of food that goes to waste each year is still edible. It’s a disgrace, and something that needs big, structural changes to be resolved. But there’s a more shocking side to this. According to the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), in 2018, they found that 70% of all food waste in the UK was from household waste, i.e. you and me throwing away a slightly dry pitta bread, or a banana that’s a bit brown. Clearly we all need to do something about this, so here’s 5 tips to reduce our food waste as students.
- Meal Plan – This is perhaps the hardest tip to get on board with, as it takes preparation and organisation, but it’s so worth it. On a Sunday night, think about the meals you’ll make in the week: a lasagne on Monday, pizza Tuesday, pasta Wednesday etc. Are you using cheese? How many times? If it’s only once or twice, a small block will do. Breaking each meal down into its ingredients, you can see how much of each item you’ll actually need, so you can buy less, waste less, and save money!
- Don’t throw away your peels – So, you’ve peeled your carrot for some carrot and hummus, now what? Save the peels, give them a quick wash, then coat them in oil, salt and pepper and roast at 180°C for 20 minutes. They make a delicious, healthy, crisp-like snack and prevent food waste. You can do this with potatoes, parsnips and all sorts of root vegetables for a simple, homemade crispy snack.
- Buy loose fruit and veg – This links back to the first tip about planning your meals, but when you know what exactly you need, you can buy exact quantities. Instead of that huge plastic bag of potatoes, just buy a couple of loose ones. It’s often cheaper, and reduces food and plastic waste, so it’s a win win situation!
- Cook together – not only is this a lovely sociable thing to do, but it also helps reduce food waste. You can do the food shop with your flatmates and buy your big bags of rice and vegetables, so you can save some money but know it will all get used. I’d also recommend doubling up the recipe, so you can have some delicious leftovers for when you can’t be bothered to cook.
- The power of the freezer – We students love our freezers for nuggets and curly fries, but they’re also brilliant at preserving food. Got a few slices of bread going dry? Freeze them, and you can toast them later. Coriander about to go off? Chop it up, put it into a Tupperware and freeze it. You can then stir it into curries as you cook them to defrost it. The same goes for cheese, and you can chop banana and freeze it into chunks for a sweet snack too. Check your fridge to see if anything is about to go off, and a quick Google search will tell you if it’s safe to freeze and how best to freeze it.
So, there you have it, my top 5 tips to help reduce food waste. Let’s all do our bit, so we can eat well and waste less. And don’t forget to order your food bin (if you don’t have one already) here, so any unavoidable food waste can be used to generate energy or fertiliser, instead of creating methane when placed in landfill.