How much food do you waste,if none how do you manage that?

Well I suppose each person has their threshold, for me its more about food that is overbought and chucked out either because people dont store it properly (freezing) or because they believe in 'use by' dates (which I dont) or because they dont work it into their meals because 'I dont fancy it now'

A few left overs on a plate I wouldnt consider food waste, but someone cooking up a huge meal EVERY TIME, and only eating a few bits of it, like my OH unfortunately, I do consider wasteful. But then he thinks Im obsessed and its all unnecessary.

Ah ok. Well that’s the sort of food waste I’ve been talking about all thread when I’ve said that we have some food waste.

I wouldnt save the bit of chicken and wouldnt really consider that 'food waste'

The rice, if it was 'clean', I would have put that in a pot because that can be chucked in soup as a thickener, you can freeze it and just chuck it in.

Yes we clear our plates (and often have seconds…). We often have leftovers which go in Tupperware and can be reheated for a quick lunch or whatever. We live rurally so there is no ‘popping to the shops’ so we make sure food is not wasted at all. Vegetables that are past their best go into soup. I ignore use by dates.

Interesting point from PP about the ripeness of fruit and veg when you buy it. That's why I always buy my fruit and veg, I'd never get it delivered or click n collect. This morning for example I bought a bunch of bananas that are ready to be eaten now, and another bunch that was much greener for in a few days.

We have very little food waste: 2 adults, 1 teen, 1 preteen. I cook almost 100% from scratch and know exactly how much everyone eats. My DC always finish their plates but I dont overload them.

I weigh pasta, rice and potatoes before cooking so I don't cook too much (or too little).

I meal plan and buy fruit and veg accordingly. Things like yogurt- I keep an eye on the dates and if there's a lot left I just tell my family they need to prioritise those items.

I batch cook and freeze whole meals (well casserole, mince etc) but I don't freeze leftovers or fruit/veg that are going off because we don't have any.

@Greengagesnfennel

Or more than one that has a shockingly short use by date.

Just hand back to the driver who'll give you a refund (and often let you keep the item anyway!). We have deliveries occasionally from Tesco, Sainsbury, Asda, and Iceland, and never had a problem with the drivers taking back short dated stuff.

Even if you don't notice upon delivery, you can phone customer services who will likewise give you a refund over the phone for short dated/damaged items.

It may not reduce your own food waste, but at least you've not paid for it!

We had katsu curry with rice last night and about half way through my middle child said she wasnt feeling too well. So she left about 2 tablespoons of rice and half a breaded chicken breast covered in katsu sauce (so it was quite soggy!). Would you have put that in Tupperware? I don’t think anyone would have eaten those leftovers (especially as it turns out we think she has scarlet fever 😏)

Very little - a bit of milk goes off occasionally, sometimes some bread or cheese if they go completely mouldy. The occasional tomato, or piece of fruit if not eaten before it goes bad. Not really anything else.

We both treat ‘best before’ dates as very much ‘only advisory’. Meal plan before going shopping. Batch cook and freeze extra portions where it makes sense.

If we have gluts of things we will freeze the excess, either as they are or make something from them that can be frozen or bottled.

We compost everything that can sensibly be home composted without a ‘hot compost’ bin (i.e. everything but meat, bones, citrus skins, etc.)

We compost food waste, which is mostly vegetable anyway and that makes me feel less bad.

If you're buying a loaf of brown and white just take half out of each when you get home, relocate to the other bread bag and stick one of those in the freezer.

We have a Labrador so food waste does not exist in our house 🤣. The only thing going in our food waste bin is tea bags, potato peelings, apple cores and onion skins. The Labrador will even eat the ends of carrots and salad given half a chance!

Very little. I do occasionally find forgotten items in the vegetable bin in the fridge (a couple of mouldy carrots, a squishy courgette, a green potato) but mostly we eat everything we buy.

If something is nearing its date, I usually make an effort to use it up before it goes off. I make soup or stir fry it if the veg is a bit past its best but still edible.

The majority of our food waste is bread. Peelings, tea bags etc go in the compost, dog will eat a few scraps left if anyone has left some dinner (which isn't often)

I can't eat the bread (cealiac) so all I can do is encourage the others to finish the loaf before it goes off.

Just to add some balance to this thread full of food wizards — …. far too much! Working on it

The chicken carcass from Costco.
Occasionally a bit of bread.

Barely any food waste… the Ddog gets leftovers chopped into her food - if suitable, but I only buy and cook what I know we’ll eat.

Every member of your family clears their plate at every meal? You’ve never once thrown out a courgette you’ve found at the bottom of the fridge? Goodness.

OP yes food waste is a massive problem in this society despite the astonishing number of Mumsnetters who have zero waste without even thinking about it………..

We are actively trying to reduce it also. Meal
planning definitely helps and even then we still ‘shop from the cupboard’ about once a
month, making a list of all the meals we can make before we have to go to the shops again. That helped a lot. We also went back to shopping ourselves (all online during Covid but also for a while afterwards given we’re both health care workers and it became easier) as we found we got given veges/fruit close to being overripe or even rotten. Shopping ourselves lets us stagger ripeness.

it still remains that in our home we don’t insisit on clearing plates at every meal as we consider that an unhealthy approach to food. There are still times when meal planning falls over because we’re working a lot, someone’s sick, we’re doing more than our usual level
of child and elderly adult care etc etc. So we’re trying, but still not always managing it.

Honestly? Four kids and a freezer. I freeze everything I can as I buy it. Nothing goes off. Leftovers are eaten

Stale bread for the birds trimmings of meat and bones for the fox, egg shells in compost heap. Lived here three months and not opened the food waste caddy yet.

Very little. Sad salad leaves I regularly whizz up into a pesto and freeze in cubes. Potatoes I might parboil and freeze for roasties later. Overripe tomatoes I make into a sauce. Old fruit can be puréed and frozen.

I am way less organised than all these posters. I do a once a week online shop and there always seems to be a random ingredient that I forget I ordered that goes off in the fridge before I realise. Or more than one that has a shockingly short use by date. I try to use things up creatively, but before the new delivery I always end up adding some veg waste to the green bin.

Not a lot but then I have goats and chickens who eat practically anything. I think if I sat still long enough…..

Almost zero. Once a year I will lose a yogurt at the back of the fridge but that's about it. I avoid waste by making fridge gravel soup, stock from bones, breadcrumbs from the end of the loaf, freezing anything I can't use up quickly, buying fresh things in fairly small quantities, rotating goods to use oldest first. I scrub most vegetables rather than peeling, and use eg the outer leaves of cabbage/cauliflower and the stalks of broccoli, so very little vegetable waste. Any peelings, along with eggshells and loose tealeaves go on our compost heap which I don't consider waste as it benefits the garden.

In our food waste caddy you will find the occasional bone; plus the occasional mouldy fruit if something got squashed in the bag and didn't last as long as expected. That's about all.

Just two adults at home and I'm retired and have time to actively manage food waste, which all helps.

Oh I do too. But I just pop the kids’ leftovers into the Tupperware with the other leftovers and eat it another day.

I guess this might be unusual because when we go to friends’ houses I always find it a bit shocking watching them scrape their kids’ plates into the bin.

The only leftover I really can’t salvage is soggy breakfast cereal. YUCK. For that reason (and contrary to the username!) I discourage the kids from having breakfast cereal and we usually have overnight soaked oats instead which can be scraped back into the bowl for another day!