4 Easy ways to reduce food waste

Sharing is caring!

With the costs of food rising so much lately, many of us are looking at ways to reduce the food budget. Now there are many ways to do this including meal planning, purchasing offers and down-stepping on brands but there is another great way to do this by simply reducing food waste.

This is not only good for your budget though, it is good for the environment too. With so much food going to waste every year, if we all took a little time to reduce our food waste we would be in a better situation all around.

So, if you are looking to reduce your food waste, here are my top tips to help.

Stocktake

Now, this may sound a little odd as, after all, you are not a shop but hear me out. How many times do you get back from the shop and you have brought something like a pack of peppers and get home to realise that you still have some that are perfectly fine at home to use?

It is worth doing a regular stock check to see what you have in already, especially the fresh items. This will hopefully help eliminate the duplicate purchases and save a little cash/food waste at the same time.

Understand dates on items

Too many of us stick religiously to the dates on items that are best before and throw away perfectly good food.

Best before dates are when food is at its best, after this date doesn’t mean it is inedible. Used by dates is when you should use your food by for it to be safe.

Make sure that you look at the food you are eating and use your sense of smell and eyes to check it all before you eat it. Bread for example gets a vinegary smell when it is going off.

Rotate your food items

When you put fresh food into the fridge or cupboards, rotate the older items to the front.

So, yoghurts, for example, remove the old ones from the fridge and put them in front of the new ones that you have just purchased. This will allow for things to be eaten in order and hopefully will eliminate anything going to waste.

It is the same process for your fresh fruit and vegetables. If you have space in your fridge it may be worth having a tray to put the fruit/veg that is on its way out so you know to grab that first of all when you are cooking.

Bulk out your meals

If you have vegetables that are going out of date but you are unsure what to use them on, make sure you use them in the dishes that you have coming up. Don’t be put off by reading a recipe and them not being on there, they can all be used up.

• Mushrooms, tomatoes and carrots – the perfect addition to a spaghetti bolognese
• Peppers and tomatoes – Throw them into any chilli con Carne you have coming up
• Courgettes, onions, peppers, tomatoes and aubergine – These all make the perfect roasted vegetable pasta sauces.

By using up the vegetables like this, you will not only be saving on waste but also potentially be bulk cooking some meals in advance depending on what you may have. It is not just the items that are going off that can be used, this recipe for curried parsnip peel soup is a great way to show what can be done with a little bit of effort.

For many of us, cutting food waste will help cut the food budget at the same time as we start to use up what we already have in our homes. I am going to try and use up as much as we can in our house this week and next to give us a few weeks of cheaper shopping bills. It can at times feel like we are having random meals but I would rather this than food be wasted or cost us more on the shopping!