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?

@EmKayEm

I work in Supply Chain and Logistics. You don't want to know what all of the major food retailers generate in waste every week...

Are they not working with the likes of Fareshare and Neighbourly to reduce their waste?

@Aqua55

I don't bother with leftovers. It's my money to waste if I want.

No wonder we have environmental and climate change problems with an attitude like that.

I live alone and my friend is in a two person household. We shop almost exclusively online and share stuff which reduces food waste. For example I don't have to buy carrots, onions or cauliflower as she splits her order with me and I can buy stuff that comes in normal sized packs and give her half. It means that we can both order and take advantage of the £40 free delivery and not waste food.

I used to do this in uni with friends who lived around the corner. It worked really well, we'd save both money and waste.

Now everyone is 1,000+ miles away and I haven't yet found the courage to approach my 75yo grumpy, I-speak-only-German neighbour to suggest this to her

@Aqua55

I don't bother with leftovers. It's my money to waste if I want.

not just about money though is it. A lot of resource goes into food many of them harmful to climate - growing, transportation, changes to the environment. If you eat meat an animal died to provide it.. .respect that..

I'm a mumsnet chicken kinda girl can you tell? We don't throw much out if we can avoid it though if we do its usually salad things which have gone soggy too quickly and even then it goes on compost.

@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.

You can eat those you know, according to Nadia on Graham Norton last night 😊

Marks and Spencers make their own garlic bread with any leftover bread. Waitrose do meals for one in their freezer range. A perfect size and microwavable so easy to cook. 😊

@HesterShaw1

I've always had a compost heap. If people realised how easy it is and how they don't attract rats, more people would I'm sure.

Don’t they attract snakes? I swear I heard that somewhere.

@beigebrownblue

Re: indoor composting

If you have the space or an outhouse, or even outside your front door you can operate a wormery.

For those of us that live in flats that is not so easy.

Agreed. My FiL tried it in an 'escape-proof' wormery kit and my MiL put her foot down after they kept escaping.

I've just put last nights lasagna in the microwave, for my lunch.

All these people 'decluttering' their food cupboards

• buy stuff they then do not fancy eating
• do not trust their senses when they check if food is still edible
• buy too many different things of a kind (3 types of bread etc.)
• throw food because it does no longer look 'nice' or is no longer super fresh (the last slices of a loaf of bread)
• the feeling that you need a choice of food at home
• 'throw' stuff because you want to go on a diet or start on a health spree
• not looking into the fridge and cupboard to see what needs using up before buying new

and so on

@EileenGC

Also agree about how difficult it is to buy for a single person, because most things come in a family-sized bag or packet, and you will never get through it in time unless you eat the same thing all day every day.

I once bought a lettuce and was eating some of it with both my lunch and dinner, it still took me 4 days to finish it. I don't want to have 8 meals in a row with lettuce (I appreciate it is a privilege to even be able to say this). A family with two or three kids would demolish a lettuce in a day or two max.

I can buy loose veg but in the country I live in, it ends up being more expensive than just a bog-standard pre-packaged bag of it. Shopping and cooking varied food for one single person, without relying on ready-meals, is harder than it seems.

Would agree. There are two in our household. Teen has ups and downs about what she will eat.

I used to have an allotment and had a closed cycle. No packaging. But couldn't keep it up as single parent in covid whilst home schooling as well. So that was sad.

However, I check out local shop on way home and they often have reduced things.

We have never had food waste as a household.

Meal planning.

Freeze extra or leftovers.

Don’t overbuy stuff with a short use-by

Mostly cook from scratch (simple quick meals, busy working household) so easy to incorporate a lone carrot etc.

Don’t overload plates, seconds or bread, cheese and fruit available so fewer plate scraps.

I cannot remember the last time I put anything other than peelings and cooking debris, chicken bones, coffee grounds or tea bags in the caddy.

Supermarkets are a major cause by either over charging for smaller portions or not selling smaller portions. So much comes in packs of 2 or 4, so for single people or a household of 3, you always have an extra portion. Supermarkets also sell small tins for more than a bigger one, I.e Heinz beans, and don’t sell small tins of soups etc.

I’m finding this thread really useful for reviewing our own waste - am good at using leftovers and thinking creatively about how to use what’s left, freezing etc. The main thing is since having young kids and lockdown I mainly do online shopping and have the same issues with dates others have discussed, also I probably order a bigger shop and try to make it last longer with an online shop, I’m not sure why, probably it feels wasteful to have the delivery van out more often.

So thanks for the thread, I am going to start planning more and doing more occasional small top up shops for fresh things, with more store cupboard stuff from deliveries.

LOL at banana peel thrift. Nigella made a banana peel curry. It looked revolting. I draw the line at that!

@DiscoLightsOnAFridayNight the only thing I've ever seen resembling a snake in my garden is a slow worm! And that wasn't in the compost heap. The heap itself is absolutely full of worms which is a good thing though does make me 🤢

I suppose theoretically it might happen....compost heaps are warm so you could get a snake who thinks it's a nice place to hibernate. But then I don't really mind snakes so it doesn't bother me.

You don't put cooked food in it though. That does attract rats, though your average garden has rats anyway.

@Embroidery and @User12398712

I think we are all correct but the shorter shelf life has got me thinking. That would be very underhand if dates were being manipulated but it reminds me of when I used to work in Littlewoods food hall on Saturdays in the 1980s. They found some ham which was three months past it's sell by date but still sealed. It was sold on a special offer. I was quite shocked at the time but it indeed smelt fine. 🙄

@EileenGC

I live alone and my friend is in a two person household. We shop almost exclusively online and share stuff which reduces food waste. For example I don't have to buy carrots, onions or cauliflower as she splits her order with me and I can buy stuff that comes in normal sized packs and give her half. It means that we can both order and take advantage of the £40 free delivery and not waste food.

I used to do this in uni with friends who lived around the corner. It worked really well, we'd save both money and waste.

Now everyone is 1,000+ miles away and I haven't yet found the courage to approach my 75yo grumpy, I-speak-only-German neighbour to suggest this to her

Yes other things include forgive stating the obvious but storage jars and big packets of things.

Also Suma do a bulk discount ordering thing which is feasible to share with neighbours.

Abel and Cole's motto is 'less is more'.

They are more expensive but several deals out there where you can try them out.

Good thing is they take all the packaging away when they arrive and monitor CO2 emissions a lot better than supermarkets.

Can I also suggest people check if there is a community fridge in their local area. They are great ways to reduce food waste and encourage food sharing.
www.hubbub.org.uk/the-community-fridge#find

@vodkaredbullgirl

I've just put last nights lasagna in the microwave, for my lunch.

Tastes better the next day. Fact!

@LemonSwan

I can well believe this. I think its harder for single households or two adult households who have to buy big quantities. Our potatoes for example; I often have to throw away a portion of the big bags. And fresh veg goes off sometimes because I will buy to have a side and DP will 'forget' aka. cba to cook it! Or because I bought it from LIDL or ALDI who to me have absolutely notorious poor shelf life on their fresh produce.

Atm I am also pregnant, so I am creating much more food waste than previously. Salad bags which we used to use whole are being thrown away as a half bag. Even some meats thrown because when it comes round to it I am not fancying the thought of beef, or chicken or whatever.

I am throwing a lot of soups also, which come in 2 portions, of which half is often thrown as I dont want it every day.

Its a difficult one, because really the solution would be able to buy in smaller quantities. But then you have the associated packaging. Its a bit of a catch 22.

Could you not freeze the other half of soup

I hate food waste and we have a caddy which is collected weekly

I don't mind frozen bread

Not sure what Suma's minimum spend is nowadays but them and Approved Foods might work for student households or neighbours - we've got a big sack of rice for example. Also I buy flour in bulk.

Sometimes I buy bread. Other times I make it.

Off the wall perhaps but I envy people with chickens as it is perfectly acceptable to give them left over rice, grains etc. If you fiind yourself having cooked too much.

[quote HesterShaw1]@DiscoLightsOnAFridayNight the only thing I've ever seen resembling a snake in my garden is a slow worm! And that wasn't in the compost heap. The heap itself is absolutely full of worms which is a good thing though does make me 🤢

I suppose theoretically it might happen....compost heaps are warm so you could get a snake who thinks it's a nice place to hibernate. But then I don't really mind snakes so it doesn't bother me.

You don't put cooked food in it though. That does attract rats, though your average garden has rats anyway.[/quote]
Slow worms are really pretty. Silver coloured.

for anyone who wants to try out abel and cole

Enjoy 50% off your 1st and 4th boxes. Enter FIRSTBOX at checkout

If you are not in, they will put the box in a safe place.
Yes many things more expensive but you can always cancel after four weeks.

@Heruka

I’m finding this thread really useful for reviewing our own waste - am good at using leftovers and thinking creatively about how to use what’s left, freezing etc. The main thing is since having young kids and lockdown I mainly do online shopping and have the same issues with dates others have discussed, also I probably order a bigger shop and try to make it last longer with an online shop, I’m not sure why, probably it feels wasteful to have the delivery van out more often.

So thanks for the thread, I am going to start planning more and doing more occasional small top up shops for fresh things, with more store cupboard stuff from deliveries.

ABel and cole good for top ups on fresh stuff