Can we have a 'how much food do you throw away?' thread?

[captainmummy]

You know how there's lots in the papers at the mo about how much good food we throw away? I thought I never did this, but I've been more conscious of our wastebin lately, with the threat of fortnightly collectins, and I realised yesterday that I threw away a half-pack of (budget) parsnips that had gone slimy, and a packet of 6 fromage-fraises that were 2 weeks out of date. (altho I did compost them)

So what do you throw out? And why?

I admit to throwing away too much food. We rarely have leftovers from meals but I am guilty of bad planning and I am trying to mend my ways.

We live in Nigeria but have a base in Scotland where we go on leave. Because we tend to dotter around and have no schedule when we're in the UK, I end up with uneaten food that's past its sell-by date or I still have food in the fridge when I'm shutting up the house. I have taken to freezing unused veg and also give unopened things to a friend.

Here in Nigeria I give unused f&v to our steward or driver, who are always very grateful. Sometimes overbuying is unavoidable here eg garlic only comes in those big packs and I don't use that much so I have to pass it on.

A lot of F&V here doesn't last in the heat and as we're on the 8th floor, no compost bin or chickens for us!! And last week, I had to throw out four chicken breasts as they had gone rotten (the smell!! ) just the day after I'd bought them. We had to have beans on toast for dinner.

But I promise to be better in the future, I really do.

I used to throw away too much food too, particularly half-used jars of pasta sauce, half-used tubs of yoghurt etc that I bought for the kids. Now I buy those food freshness labels, Count On It, I buy them at my local deli, but I know you can get them online at www.count-on-it.co.uk.

A box of 25 labels last me a month and already I am better at using all of the content, eating in date order etc. I;ve also got better at using leftovers, as I stick leftovers in a tub, stick on a label and either freeze or eat in time.