to be shocked that 70% of food waste is from our homes? Do people not eat leftovers?

[MLMshouldbeillegal]

ahdb.org.uk/news/consumer-insight-positive-movements-in-uk-food-waste-reduction-reverse-as-covid-19-restrictions-are-removed

71% of food waste - 4.5 MILLION TONNES - annually is from our homes. Retailer and restaurants get stick in the press for throwing things away but really, they're not the problem, are they? Only 4% of food waste is produced by reailers.

It's us who are being wasteful. Throwing away 4.5 million tonnes of food each year is obscene. Do people not eat leftovers? Freeze what they're not using and keep it another day?

@lazylinguist

None of us like eating the same thing for days, none of us like leftovers.

I find it hard to understand when people say they 'don't like leftovers'. Leftovers doesn't have to mean plates of warmed-up yesterday's dinner. A risotto or a curry made from the remains of a roast chicken is leftovers. Sausage pasta made from leftover sausages etc.

People who say they don't like leftovers don't know what they are missing. Leftovers are brilliant!

Cold pizza for breakfast
Reheated lasagne for lunch
Chilli and curry are always better reheated the next day as the flavours marinate.
Cold special fried rice from the Chinese
A sandwich made with cold roast meat and stuffing
A sandwich made from last night's sausages.

All delicious 😋

It's not hard is it?

Buy a half loaf if you don't like frozen bread (tastes the same to me)
Chop and freeze your spare stalks of celery ready for next week, ditto peppers, onions, etc.
Make extra mash this week, freeze the rest for next week.
Have your soft, salad and coleslaw meals first, then the harder veg (carrots, cauli, broccoli, parsnips, cabbage etc.) mid week, then freezer veg at the end of the week if needs be.
If your meat comes with a shorter date than you want, either swop the meal plan around or freeze it.

Even with a titchy freezer, this all works!

And as for the PP whose husband ignores what's in the fridge and buys fresh each time they cook, buy less!!!

They can eat what has been on their own plate. You don't have to do swapsies 🙄

If the child says they want two sausages they eat both or they finish them for breakfast/lunch the next day.

If they don't like doing that then they will soon learn to take a smaller portion in the first place.

It also encourages them not to play with their food.

Food that hasn't been served onto someone's plate can be used for seconds for anyone who is hungry or if not used for a meal or part of a meal another day.

Those of you who "don't like leftovers" - can you explain this to me please? Surely you've eaten it the previous day, so what's the difference eating it a day or so later?

IME curry, stew, soup etc all taste better the following day.

We serve from the table and have always had a rule in this house, if you take it, you eat it. It discourages greed and loading your plate up.

This thread it about food waste and shouldn’t be turned into a vegetarian/vegan debate imo.

@TheMagiciansNiece

Those of you who "don't like leftovers" - can you explain this to me please? Surely you've eaten it the previous day, so what's the difference eating it a day or so later?

IME curry, stew, soup etc all taste better the following day.

I love leftovers and cannot understand why some are against it? Nothing better than the other half of your Chinese warmed up the next day! And it's great in winter as you can have a ready made hot lunch with zero effort.

AND as a diabetic there is some evidence that carbs like pasta, rice and bread don't spike your blood sugar as much if they have been cooked, frozen and reheated.

Wins all round!!

@Jijithecat

One thing I'm making a conscious effort to do is bring my banana peel home from work for the compost bin rather than putting it in the rubbish bin at work.

My office now has waste bins that are split for recycling. If your workplace doesn't approach them about it. Many companies are keen to improve their green credentials.

@RedHot22

We serve from the table and have always had a rule in this house, if you take it, you eat it. It discourages greed and loading your plate up.

This thread it about food waste and shouldn’t be turned into a vegetarian/vegan debate imo.

Well its not really just a thread about food waste is it? Its a thread where someone is taking a high handed and critical approach to other people's eating habits in the name of being environmentally aware. The OP has set the tone with the why can't people do this and that posts, so I think to open up the question and ask why don't people stop eating meat is within the spirit of the thread.

@Calmdown14

We fill up a lot of food bags as part of our recycling but it doesn't mean we waste food. We make a lot of soup and buy huge bags of tatties direct from the farm so have a lot of peelings. Does the figure include this kind of waste? I mean who eats their banana skins of egg shells? They can be useful on garden but even then you only need so many

Try cooking your potato with the skins on. Less waste and better for you, most of the goodness is directly next to the skin.

I'll eat organic potatoes with the skin but otherwise not.

@thecatsthecats

I don't meal plan and I throw away hardly anything also.

We never stick to recipes in this house. You just stick your head in the fridge and see a) what needs eating and if not b) think about what you'd like and crack on.

Environment aside, I loathe wasting things. It just wasn't the way I was brought up. Everything that can be mended or repurposed in our house was.

Much the same.

I mist admit to cutting mould off cheese and eating the other end of the soft cheese if mould is one side

I cut the heal off the bread ends and make toast

@MrsLargeEmbodied

i always kept bread in the freezer, taking out the slices for sandwiches every day. lately there is no room in the freezer we are on a mission to eat the contents and then i will freeze the bread. why cant people eat bread crusts though?

Hate bread crusts

@NineCmNails

Leftovers fed to animals are classed as food waste in the report.

I would be interested to know how they work that out. I often buy a big bag of carrots knowing we can't use them all but if we share them with the horse none are wasted.

Likewise those bags of stewing veg, we use the onion, carrots, and parsnips but don't like swede. The horse loves them though so she shares.

I think it is less wasteful than buying specific horse treats.

Last weekend we were gifted 9 partridge, brace of duck, pheasants. All plucked, drawn and frozen. Should we have made pillows out of the feathers??

@HollyandIvyandAllThingsYule

If an egg is rotten you will know.

Not necessarily if someone else makes an omelette for you.

@Waahingwashingwashing

I reach to the back when I’m shopping for myself.

Same here. Some things I buy are only eaten by one person so I get the longest dates so it will last.

"Buy a half loaf if you don't like frozen bread (tastes the same to me)"

Not available in many food shops and supermarkets.

@TheMagiciansNiece

Those of you who "don't like leftovers" - can you explain this to me please? Surely you've eaten it the previous day, so what's the difference eating it a day or so later?

IME curry, stew, soup etc all taste better the following day.

I agree that stew is much better the next day and I like a lot of things as leftovers, but I do have some bad memories from my childhood of days old baked beans gone dry and that kind of thing so people who don't like leftovers are probably thinking of that kind of thing.

"I would be interested to know how they work that out. I often buy a big bag of carrots knowing we can't use them all but if we share them with the horse none are wasted."

But if the problem is over consumption buying animals (if it leads to more breeding of those animals) increases consumption.

@Gwenhwyfar I’m not actually arguing with you but if there were rotten eggs in the omelette you absolutely would have known it. They stink and the smell is unmistakeable. It’s likely it was something else in the preparation/storing/serving that made you ill.

Anyway all I’m saying is eggs can be used months after they’re laid.

[quote HollyandIvyandAllThingsYule]@Gwenhwyfar I’m not actually arguing with you but if there were rotten eggs in the omelette you absolutely would have known it. They stink and the smell is unmistakeable. It’s likely it was something else in the preparation/storing/serving that made you ill.

Anyway all I’m saying is eggs can be used months after they’re laid.[/quote]
Having a smallholding with circa 100 birds yep you cannot miss the smell of a rotten egg it's grim

@TheMagiciansNiece

Those of you who "don't like leftovers" - can you explain this to me please? Surely you've eaten it the previous day, so what's the difference eating it a day or so later?

IME curry, stew, soup etc all taste better the following day.

Not only that, it’s a day you don’t have to cook dinner for anyone. Why wouldn’t you do that?

I suspect those who are the worst offenders will not be the ones who read or contribute to Mumsnet.....

Some poster above mentioning the country live! Oh the nostalgia!
There was no food waste when I was growing up in the farm. Peelings went to the cows, donkeys, horse or pigs.
Leftovers were eaten by us or given to the dogs/ cats/ pigs depending on which food was.
Hard bread made a great meal for farm animals. They wet it a bit and mixed with grounded cereals. Even hens ate that one, and love it!
Actually our cows loved bread so much that we could not eat our sandwiches close to them or thay would be pestering us for a bite.
But in the big city there is no place for peelings/ unused salad or veggies, but the food waste that goes to compost.
I really think there is no other way that making small shopping trips for the meal you are preparing today or tomorrow. It is the fitting it in with our busy lives that is the trick!

@Europilgrim

If you store them properly they last ages. Our potatoes sprout within days. I'd love to know how to stop that. I keep them in the dark.

I randomly started keeping mine in a shady corner on counter, in a small jute bag I had, and found they last so much longer. I tried keeping them in different cupboards before and they would go off too quickly.