Putting waste to use

With some careful Christmas planning, we can avoid throwing out too much food, Kya deLongchamps reports

A little bit of planning will ensure less food is thrown out in Irish homes.

ACCORDING to figures published this year by Stop Food Waste, a programme developed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as part of the National Waste Prevention Programme, food waste across is costing the average Irish household between €700-€1,000 a year. Some 30% of what we buy we simply throw out, equating to 280kgs per man, woman and child. Over Christmas, with concentration levels dimmed by the excitement of the holiday, the dumping of foodstuffs and their accompanying packaging becomes a Hedonistic tragedy in poor stock control.

The cost of producing, shipping and storing this doomed produce, much of which is hauled off to landfill to produce airborne methane, doesn’t bear thinking about. This damage can be subtly hidden, for example in the ‘embedded water’ used to make plants grow. Housekeeping used to be termed a domestic science, so let’s perk up those pantries and streamline the fridge to save money and help our environment.

Here’s 12 simple things you can try over the Christmas period to develop more intelligent habits around foodstuffs.

1 Make a meal plan for the week and shop accordingly. Keep it in your hand and avoid impulse-buying perishable foodstuffs. Half of all salad bought by Irish consumers is currently dumped. Become more aware of what is wasted in your household.

2 Develop confidence, experience and determination in the use of leftovers. If you cook a turkey, have something in mind for the off-cuts the next day. Improving your cooking skills will make a leftovers regime a revealing challenge. Try www.leftoverchef.com and www.lovefoodhatewaste.com.

3 Be wary of buy-one-get-one-free deals on perishable foods such as fruit and vegetables. Even the most pert and promising lettuce has a shelf life of just four days and the goodness in tomatoes declines in just two. Buy smaller, loose quantities.

4 A full freezer is an efficient freezer. If you like those ‘special offers’ and bulk deal goods, putting food on ice can save you money. Read the instructions for freezing. Fresh herbs in season are among the many foods you can portion and freeze. Stop Food Waste has a handy PDF on the art of chilling food.

5 Get bagging. Divide goods into meal-size portions that you can scoop out and use in a flash. A third of bread bought by consumers is dumped stale. Bread can be frozen in batches of slices when fresh and popped into the toaster directly.

6 Buy tinned and dry goods in bulk. Rice, pasta, flour and many other foods can be kept in jars for months. Ensure containers are properly sealed. Darina Allen has store cupboard lists in her classic books.

7 Keep vegetables that are not stored in the fridge in a cool, dark place. Some fruits, including apples produce ethylene gas that will ripen and rot other vegetables and fruit. Keep fruit and vegetables in separate chill bins. Pick up fresh vegetables locally as you need them.

8 Contain the wastage. Open packages are bad news. Look out for re-sealable bags and invest in some sealed containers in various sizes to put in the fridge and cupboards.

9 Batch cook when you have more time and then freeze in one meal portions, a key skill for the busy family home. Remember to take a meal out and defrost in the fridge the day before.

10 Don’t cook too much food. Portion size is a key element of healthy, economic eating. There are scales and devices for just about every food type that swells during cooking, including clever hoops to measure spaghetti.

11 Grow your own. We are not all adept in the garden, but there’s no excuse for not trying. Salad leaves are the most wasted food in Britain, and a doddle to grow most of the year. Many herbs can be coaxed into a repeated performance on nothing more than a splash of water and a sunny windowsill.

12 Compost. A great deal of food waste can contribute to a nutrient rich compost you can use on your garden. Composting will ease up on those bin tags and adding regularly will improve the composter’s performance. You can compost uncooked vegetables and peelings, salad, tea-bags, egg shells, fruit and coffee grounds.

Useful links:

* www.stopfoodwaste.ie.

* www.lovefoodhatewaste.com.

lwww.wrap.org.uk