NOW CLOSED Share your views on food waste for CarrieMumsnet and Unilever UK and you could win £100 cash

[KatieBMumsnet]

CarrieMumsnet is talking about the issue of food waste at an event hosted by Unilever UK soon and she'd love to get your views on the topic.

Here's what Unilever UK says about food waste:
"At Unilever, thinking sustainably is at the heart of everything we do. Now we're working hard with WRAP (Waste and Resource Action Programme) and other organisations across the UK to help people to reduce the amount of food they dispose of. After all, throwing away food wastes money and it's bad for the environment too.
"According to recent research we've commissioned with the Fabian Society, the most trusted source of information about reducing food waste is our friends and family. People listed food going off too quickly, throwing away leftovers and cooking too much food in the first place as the key reasons why they waste food. We'd love to get your thoughts."

On 1st November, our Mumsnet co-founder, Carrie Longton, is going to be joining a number of influencers and experts in the world of sustainability to speak at a morning of debate and insight on the subject of food waste, hosted by Unilever UK.
Here are some questions to get you started - all views welcome:

• Do you throw away much food at home? Where does the food waste go? Do you have a kitchen caddy and compost bin?
• Does your local council offer a food waste collection service?
• What are the main reasons or circumstances that you throw food away?
• Of food you throw away, is it mainly cooked or uncooked food?
• If you don't throw away much food, how do you manage to keep waste to a minimum?
• How do you or how do you think you could make the most of the food that would otherwise be put in the bin?
• Have you got any great ideas for wasting less food?
• Have you got any top money-saving tips that also help you to throw away less food?
• Did you know that tea bags can be put into your local council food waste collection (if you have one) or composted at home?

Everyone who adds their comments to this thread will be entered into a prize draw where one winner will receive £100 cash.

Thanks and good luck,

MNHQ

Do you throw away much food at home? Where does the food waste go? Do you have a kitchen caddy and compost bin?
Yes, usually what my DSes leave on their plate. Goes in the council food waste bin or compost.

• Does your local council offer a food waste collection service?
  Yes

• What are the main reasons or circumstances that you throw food away?
  Portion size too large or fruit thats gone off.

• Of food you throw away, is it mainly cooked or uncooked food?
  Mixture

• If you don't throw away much food, how do you manage to keep waste to a minimum?
  Re-use leftovers.

• How do you or how do you think you could make the most of the food that would otherwise be put in the bin?
  make fruit crumble with fruit thats gone off?

• Have you got any great ideas for wasting less food?
  shop more often and buy less.

• Have you got any top money-saving tips that also help you to throw away less food?
  smaller portions

• Did you know that tea bags can be put into your local council food waste collection (if you have one) or composted at home?
  yes

Do you throw away much food at home? Where does the food waste go? Do you have a kitchen caddy and compost bin?
All food waste is fed to my chickens or goes in the compost bucket

Does your local council offer a food waste collection service?
No

What are the main reasons or circumstances that you throw food away?
Child has thrown food on floor (mainly) or uneaten meals (not so much!)

Of food you throw away, is it mainly cooked or uncooked food?
Cooked

If you don't throw away much food, how do you manage to keep waste to a minimum?
Making sure I cook what is likely to be eaten
Freeze leftovers that can be reheated safely
Give food waste to chickens

How do you or how do you think you could make the most of the food that would otherwise be put in the bin?
Feeding it to my chickens

Have you got any great ideas for wasting less food?
If things are going to go bad before you can use them, bung them in the freezer
Get chickens- they eat virtually anything, and then produce lovely eggs!
Make vegetable stock for the freezer with any veggies on the turn

Have you got any top money-saving tips that also help you to throw away less food?
See above-
Get chickens- they eat virtually anything, and then produce lovely eggs!
Make vegetable stock for the freezer with any veggies on the turn

Did you know that tea bags can be put into your local council food waste collection (if you have one) or composted at home?
Yes, and our teabags go in our compost buckets

• Do you throw away much food at home? Where does the food waste go? Do you have a kitchen caddy and compost bin?
  We throw away much less now than we used to which is mainly due to financial belt tightening. Spending less at the supermarket is one way that were trying to spend less atm which results in trying to rein in my 'chuck it in the trolley' habit!We do much more in the way of meal planning too, though not as impressively as some of the MNers I see, so less waste.

• Does your local council offer a food waste collection service?
  No

• What are the main reasons or circumstances that you throw food away?
  Sometimes fruit if it hasnt been eaten and has gone off. Also foods that are leftover uneaten from someones plate.

• Of food you throw away, is it mainly cooked or uncooked food?
  Half and half I think

• If you don't throw away much food, how do you manage to keep waste to a minimum?
  Keeping an eye on portion sizes and menu planning.

• How do you or how do you think you could make the most of the food that would otherwise be put in the bin?
  I try to save uneaten fruit from the bin and use in baking or in puddings.

• Have you got any great ideas for wasting less food?
  meal planning

• Have you got any top money-saving tips that also help you to throw away less food?

• Did you know that tea bags can be put into your local council food waste collection (if you have one) or composted at home?
  Yes. We need to get a tea bag caddy thingy but only DH drinks tea so it slips my mind.

Do you throw away much food at home? Where does the food waste go? Do you have a kitchen caddy and compost bin?

We try not to throw much away. Food waste goes in the 'normal' bin, no caddy/ compost

Does your local council offer a food waste collection service?
no

What are the main reasons or circumstances that you throw food away?

Uneaten food on plate/ floor (DD is 2)

Of food you throw away, is it mainly cooked or uncooked food?

Cooked

If you don't throw away much food, how do you manage to keep waste to a minimum?

Freeze bread / fruit bread/ cake and only get out whats needed. Same with meat etc.

How do you or how do you think you could make the most of the food that would otherwise be put in the bin?

Get DD to finish her dinner!

Have you got any great ideas for wasting less food?
Have you got any top money-saving tips that also help you to throw away less food?

Bigger/ second freezer. Remember to label stuff

Did you know that tea bags can be put into your local council food waste collection (if you have one) or composted at home?

No

Aaargh bold fail! :(

* Do you throw away much food at home? Where does the food waste go? Do you have a kitchen caddy and compost bin?
Very little on a day-to-day basis. I don't overcook, so leftovers are few and far between. Generally any extra can be used up for my or DH's lunch the next day. Sometimes my DS will not finish his dinner on account of stuffing biscuits down his throat - if suitable, it will be given to the dog as a treat. If not suitable (curry), it will be scraped from the plate into a container (an about-to-be-discarded plastic tub that e.g. mushrooms were bought in) in the freezer until bin-day (I hate rotting food making the bin stink). That's why I'm so sure about how much we discard. This container will also take chicken carcasses etc., as they would choke the dog and when I used them to make stock, I never used the stock. I cook potatoes whole so no peelings - other vegetable waste like carrot peelings or broccoli stalks are wrapped in newspaper an placed in the outside bin. We used to have a compost heap, currently abandoned as the garden is undergoing some changes - I hope to have one up and running again by next year. I will occasionally realise that I forgot about some veg in the fridge and it is beyond soup redemption - it will go straight into the bin on bin-day. This maybe happens monthly.

* Does your local council offer a food waste collection service?
Warwick District Council? Yes, but not to all households, only to those who are on wheelie-bins. In the town centre where few homes have the space for these, they collect rubbish in bags, and these homes do not have food waste collection. We don't .

* What are the main reasons or circumstances that you throw food away?
DS (14) not finishing his dinner, not using up vegetables after all because a planned meal didn't happen. Sometimes fruit bought to encourage better eating habits in DS doesn't get eaten; I don't always regard it as thrown away because I put it out on the birdtables.

* Of food you throw away, is it mainly cooked or uncooked food?
Probably about half and half.

* If you don't throw away much food, how do you manage to keep waste to a minimum?
I don't buy it in the first place! I do not do a monthly shop - never have. I stock up on staples (rice, pasta, tinned stuff) when they're cheap, and top up with fresh food on a near-daily basis. So I can alter what we eat at short notice to accommodate weather, mood, sudden preference etc. I will also use my freezer for e.g. bread - put half the loaf in the bread-bin, and leave half in the freezer until the first half is finished.

* How do you or how do you think you could make the most of the food that would otherwise be put in the bin?
Veg can be made into soup for lunch. In the past I tried to make my own stock from chicken bones, but I'd forget and it would stay in the freezer for ages and I'd forget about it. Meat, if I change my plans for tonight's dinner, will go into the freezer. When I cook bacon or burgers I mop up the excess fat with breadcrumbs from the breadboard and put it out on the bird-tables. I can also be incredibly lax over use-by dates on yoghurts/cream. I trust my sense of smell/taste to tell me if it's still OK to eat.

* Have you got any great ideas for wasting less food?
Don't buy anything fresh that you don't plan to eat in the next few days (the monthly shop is not your friend). Get a freezer.

* Have you got any top money-saving tips that also help you to throw away less food?
Batch-cook and freeze. Buy a copy of Economy Gastronomy by by Allegra McEvedy and Paul Merrett. Even if you don't like the menus in the book, it gets you thinking about how you plan your meals and how to do it better - to stop regarding each meal as a separate entity, but to see it as part of of a bigger arrangement.

* Did you know that tea bags can be put into your local council food waste collection (if you have one) or composted at home?
Yes, we used to compost them. Plus I have switched to leaf tea; reuse the leaves for three mashes, then dry and bin.

I really do think that a lot of the problem stems from the supermarkets and their marketing. They just want to sell, sell, sell, and they are very good at selling us more than we need to buy. Instead of BOGOFs, why not just half-price? Even the home-delivery; to justify the delivery charge to yourself, you need to do a 'big shop'. This will inevitably lead to waste, e.g. you buy a load of salad and the weather turns and all you want is mash. Doing small regular shops can reduce this problem, but lots of people don't have the facility - supermarkets are increasingly on the edge of town; so you drive there and it feels like a waste of petrol/time for just a couple of items etc. A lot of people don't have adequate shopping that they can walk to, which would encourage a less wasteful provisioning. Why overbuy when you can pop out and restock that one ingredient in ten-twenty minutes locally? Or send the kids for it (as I was sent in my childhood)?

Most of our food waste is fruit and veg peelings and tea bags. They all go in the household waste bin with cornstarch liners. Occasionally there is other waste due to children refusing to eat what is put in front of them, or something languishing at the back of the fridge and being forgotten about although that is pretty rare. I do quite often find though that fruit goes bad very quickly - when still in date, and try to keep everything in the fridge to try and prevent this. I suppose that would be my tip to reduce food waste.

I have to say I was brought up to rely on my senses more than the dates stated on products, which I think are often over-cautious, so we often eat food that is slightly past its date if it looks/ smells etc ok, although DH is more reluctant to do this than I am. We've not had any food poisoning ever though I'm aware this is contrary to food safety advice.

Do you throw away much food at home? Where does the food waste go? Do you have a kitchen caddy and compost bin?

• In the kitchen bin - our kitchen is extremely small and we can not recycle at all as we have nowhere to store any other bins.

• Does your local council offer a food waste collection service?

• I have no idea.

• What are the main reasons or circumstances that you throw food away?

• It goes off before we have the chance to eat it. Sometimes if I have ordered online, the food goes off before when I would normally have bought it, otherwise I try to be careful.

• Of food you throw away, is it mainly cooked or uncooked food?

• Uncooked mainly, but as I have a toddler she does leave a lot of food uneaten.

• How do you or how do you think you could make the most of the food that would otherwise be put in the bin?

• I wouldn't do anything with it. I think uncooked food and food waste is a bit gross to be honest.

• Have you got any great ideas for wasting less food?

• Just meal plan and stick to it.

• Have you got any top money-saving tips that also help you to throw away less food?

• Don't buy more than you need. Freeze as much as you can or buy cans of things if that is an option. I would also say that I dearly would love a garbage grinder / waste disposal unit in the kitchen. Kitchen waste stinks I hate it.

• Did you know that tea bags can be put into your local council food waste collection (if you have one) or composted at home?

• I had no idea about this, I can't believe someone is worrying about tea bag waste to be honest.

I think we could claim to waste virtually no food at all [halo emoticom]. The main ways we do this are:

• - planning a weekly menu before the main supermarket shop and only buying what we need for the menu. This has saved us loads on impulse buys of treats or 'bargains' that used to sit in the fridge until they went off
• making quantities of meals that match one night's needs. We always used to make a bigger pot (so we can use it up tomorrow). Then we'd eat more than we really needed on the first night with second helpings etc. That would never leave quite enough for a full meal the next day and so we'd cook up another meal and the leftovers would sit in the fridge until they got thrown away.
• Having an interesting repertoire of leftovers. One roast chicken will last us 3 nights plus a bowl of chicken soup. First night roast, next curry, risotto, fajitas, chicken and veg pie, etc etc etc (e.g. tonight's menu Turkish chicken and chickpea casserole)
• Feeding any scraggy bits of leftovers to dog and/or cat e.g. chicken skin, giblets . They love it.
• Composting. Love it - there is nothing more satisfying than putting the carrot peelings, tea bags, coffee grounds etc out in the compost heap and next year digging beautiful rich compost into the rose bed and veg patch. Satisfying cyle of lifey -feeling.
• Having a realistic understanding of sell-by dates. If an item is a day or two over its sell by date it doesn't necessarily mean that it has gone off. It means it may have gone off. Use your nose to check. For most items if it smells good and looks OK it is ok. Of course we'd be very careful with short life items such as fish and wouldn't risk it, but most sell-by dates (on fruit, veg, cheese, yoghurt etc) are a helpful reminder to use the item soon. Not the law!

-mainly cooking from scratch. If you have half a shop bought macoroni cheese left over it's only ever going to be macaroni cheese. but if you have half a pack of pasta and a lump of cheese in the fridge they're going to be a lot more useful for other things.

• Finally, being on an extremely tight budget helps

DameMargotFountain - I'm not really sure what you're suggesting. Of course we should be trying to reduce food waste by buying more carefully, but there will always be some - no matter how careful you are. Are you suggesting bagging up your chicken bones and cheese rinds and sending them to the poor?

I imagine what the council are celebrating is the reduction in landfill - which is exactly where most bones and skanky bits of food go. Surely this is a Good Thing?

Anyway:

Do you throw away much food at home? Where does the food waste go? Do you have a kitchen caddy and compost bin?
A caddy full, sometimes two. In my defence a lot of that will be bones etc. Peelings, tea bags, eggshells etc go in the compost bin at the bottom of the garden

Does your local council offer a food waste collection service?
Yes

What are the main reasons or circumstances that you throw food away?
cooking too much rice, not getting through bread fast enough

Of food you throw away, is it mainly cooked or uncooked food?
cooked ? veg trimmings etc go in the compost bin in the garden

If you don't throw away much food, how do you manage to keep waste to a minimum?
menu planning, fascistic control over the fridge and cupboards

How do you or how do you think you could make the most of the food that would otherwise be put in the bin?
a larger freezer would help enormously

Have you got any great ideas for wasting less food?
buy less? [helpful]

Have you got any top money-saving tips that also help you to throw away less food?
Ditto (sorry)

Did you know that tea bags can be put into your local council food waste collection (if you have one) or composted at home?
Yes

Jenai of course not, where have i said that?

my point is that since our town is now using a food bank, there is obvious need yet the council are celebrating how much waste food is being collected.

i would like to have seen at least some initative about how to reduce waste and consequently food bills for local families.

• Do you throw away much food at home? Where does the food waste go? Do you have a kitchen caddy and compost bin?
  Not a huge amount I'd hope. Our food waste goes in the normal refuse - council doesn't do food recycling, we have a compost bin but since it got invaded by rats last summer I'm loathe to put food in.

• Does your local council offer a food waste collection service?
  No.

• What are the main reasons or circumstances that you throw food away?
  Leftovers that can't be reused or food that's gone off/out of date.

• Of food you throw away, is it mainly cooked or uncooked food?
  Uncooked. Not much gets left over that's cooked!

• If you don't throw away much food, how do you manage to keep waste to a minimum?
  Meal planning and only buying exactly what we need every week. Getting food with long dates so it doesn't go off quickly. Freezing wherever possible (we have two freezers so that helps).

• How do you or how do you think you could make the most of the food that would otherwise be put in the bin?
  We do make soups with veg from the bottom of the fridge.

• Have you got any great ideas for wasting less food?
  Meal planning is the key I think. And being aware of what a reasonable portion is so you don't cook too much at once.

• Have you got any top money-saving tips that also help you to throw away less food?
  See above - meal planning helps you spend less!

• Did you know that tea bags can be put into your local council food waste collection (if you have one) or composted at home?
  Yes, but see above re: council not collecting food waste, and rat-based compost bin problems!

It was the bit where you said you would never, ever, ever (I might be over-egging that slightly) use the caddy, Dame

Unless you're vegetarian or live on ready meals and never roast a chicken, there will be bones and gristly bits that should go in the caddy - not many people have composting systems at home that can deal with those.

I'd hazard a guess and say that the people needing food banks aren't the ones wasting lots of food though. I thoroughly agree with you though re helping families to reduce waste for their benefit as well as the council's/the environment.

Quick point though to the researchers: whilst I like the caddy/waste collection a lot, for a while it did mean I was throwing out more to be dealt with by the council because I was being too lazy to carry peelings and so on to the compost bin at the bottom of the garden.

Crap, so many thoughs. My posts have been dire this afternoon

i am veggie

and used to using a compost heap. i hardly ever peel veg and use all manner of things like egg shells etc in the garden

Ruddy goodlifers

Do you throw away much food at home? Where does the food waste go? Do you have a kitchen caddy and compost bin? Does your local council offer a food waste collection service?
Yes, we have both caddy and compost bin in the kitchen. The veg peelings, egg shells etc ends up in our big compost bin at our allotment. Other food waste goes into the council-collected food waste collection. Any unwanted meat goes to the cats! I was slightly surprised by how easily I adapted to the food waste collection as our non-recycling only gets collected fortnightly now - but because there's no food in the bin, it doesn't smell so I don't mind at all!

What are the main reasons or circumstances that you throw food away?
The most bulky things I throw away (into the food waste bin) are meat bones, eg chicken carcasses, although I'll almost always make stock from them first. Other than that, the main source of wasted food are my two kids, who'll ask for something then change their minds or eat a ton of pasta one week then half the amount the next. I try not to let food go off/out of date but sometimes it happens.

Of food you throw away, is it mainly cooked or uncooked food?
Probably half and half - although the uncooked half is mostly veg peelings which goes in the compost so I don't count that as 'thrown away' - it's feeding my allotment instead!

If you don't throw away much food, how do you manage to keep waste to a minimum?
I save leftovers whenever possible for lunches or to turn into something else. I compost anything possible. If I notice something about to go out of date and it's freezable, it goes in the freezer. Old fruit gets turned into smoothies, old veg gets turned into soup/added to a stew. I always look at use-by dates when I buy food and try to get the longest life possible. I try to check the dates of things in the fridge weekly (usually the day before the food waste collection in case I have missed anything).

How do you or how do you think you could make the most of the food that would otherwise be put in the bin?
I don't think I'm too bad at this - I'm sure I could learn more from this thread! In particular, I think my menu planning could be improved.

Have you got any great ideas for wasting less food?
Menu planning helps. Having good recipes for using up leftovers is really good too. I often do stir fries, stews or risotto with leftovers. Not having children would doubtless help too as so much ends up left over/on the floor!

Have you got any top money-saving tips that also help you to throw away less food?
Using up leftovers instead of cooking from scratch is cheaper (although it would probably be even better to cook the right amount in the first place). Stews and soups can be amazingly cheap to make, especially if you make your own stock (my freezer is full of handy-sized bags of home-made stock). Buy things like mince in bulk when it's on special offer, cook into bologanise then freeze into portion-sized bags.

Did you know that tea bags can be put into your local council food waste collection (if you have one) or composted at home?
Yes! I've been composting my tea bags for years.

Do you throw away much food at home? Where does the food waste go? Do you have a kitchen caddy and compost bin?
I think we do, dh doesn't. Food waste goes into food bin or composter

• Does your local council offer a food waste collection service?
  yes

• What are the main reasons or circumstances that you throw food away?
  If either of the dcs doesn't finish their tea. They're 1 and 3, so tes time can be varied. We also throw stuff out if Dh deems it past its best - he's abit too fond of sell by dates. I wait until it's falling apart and will cut mould off bread.

• Of food you throw away, is it mainly cooked or uncooked food?
  Both.

• If you don't throw away much food, how do you manage to keep waste to a minimum?
  we make a food plan and list each week.

• How do you or how do you think you could make the most of the food that would otherwise be put in the bin?
  We only throw inedieble food out. I wouldn't fancy re-eating toddler scraps.

• Have you got any great ideas for wasting less food?

• Have you got any top money-saving tips that also help you to throw away less food?

• Did you know that tea bags can be put into your local council food waste collection (if you have one) or composted at home?
  yes. Apparently they don;t live on the side of the sink either.

• Do you throw away much food at home? Where does the food waste go? Do you have a kitchen caddy and compost bin?
  #probably throw away more than i should. compost bin at the allotment but garden not big enough. no to a caddy

• Does your local council offer a food waste collection service? NO

• What are the main reasons or circumstances that you throw food away?
  not sticking to meal plans

• Of food you throw away, is it mainly cooked or uncooked food?
  Cooked food waste from the kids dinners.

• If you don't throw away much food, how do you manage to keep waste to a minimum?

• How do you or how do you think you could make the most of the food that would otherwise be put in the bin?
  soup out of left over veggies. freeze left over cooked food that can be for lazy meals. freeze glut of foods

• Have you got any great ideas for wasting less food?
  meal plan is the tried and trusted and keeping an eye on whats coming to fruition at the allotment

• Have you got any top money-saving tips that also help you to throw away less food?
  work out the price of food you throw away and put it as cash in front of you

• Did you know that tea bags can be put into your local council food waste collection (if you have one) or composted at home? Yes

"Write the date you opened the package of cheese, milk, bread, ham or whatever on the packaging with a sharpie. That way you know when it's due to go off and you're more likely to use it up in time."

There's a much easier answer to that which is use your eyes and nose. Nothing is ever "due" to go off. It's either off or it isn't. Either way your senses (and common sense) will tell you that.

Do you throw away much food at home? Where does the food waste go? Do you have a kitchen caddy and compost bin?

I try to throw away as little as possible but it is difficult with three boys who sometimes eat loads and sometimes very little. I try and give them a small portion then they can have more or I freeze the rest. (see below...)

• Does your local council offer a food waste collection service?
  OUr council supply a very small green bin and a small green bin for all food waste. We have the very small green bin in the kitchen and all food waste goes in it in special bags. This then goes into the small green bin which they empty weekly. It really makes you see how much you waste.

• What are the main reasons or circumstances that you throw food away?
  Food that can not be eaten - skin, peelings, cores, bones, food that has gone off, food that has been on the plate.

• Of food you throw away, is it mainly cooked or uncooked food?
  A bit of both

• If you don't throw away much food, how do you manage to keep waste to a minimum?
  Only buy what we need - e.g. not getting a huge bag of potatoes that then start growing in the bag and going soggy.
  Deciding what to cook by looking in the fridge. -e.g we have a bit of pesto left so lets have pasta with pesto and tuna
  Serving up small portions
  Saving left overs for next day - mashing cooked veg into sauces, making currys
  Freezing small amounts that are left then defrosting a few of them to make a full meal

• How do you or how do you think you could make the most of the food that would otherwise be put in the bin?
  Can't think of anything else

• Have you got any great ideas for wasting less food?
  See above

• Have you got any top money-saving tips that also help you to throw away less food?
  See above

• Did you know that tea bags can be put into your local council food waste collection (if you have one) or composted at home?
  Yes - have always done this

Although I do see what you meant HairyPoppins. In our house we never have any problem using up the food before it goes off (DH is always complaining about our perpetually near empty fridge).