Saturday, February 07, 2009

Love Food, Hate Waste

Honey-Balsamic Duck Gyoza with Soy Dipping Sauce
As I am once more a poor student again, saving money is something very dear to my heart. I take home everything I cook (most of my fellow students bin theirs, or give it to the charity collection if suitable). My fiancee and I have a Leiths-cooked dinner most nights of the week, rather than cooking something separate. I'm also still ploughing through Christmas leftovers (yes really - in February!), because my family compulsively over-order every single year. Someone really should tell my father that a cheeseboard doesn't need to have 20 cheeses on it, but I can't bring myself to say so because I have discovered most hard or medium-hard cheeses freeze really well, so I've been slowly working my way through them, and am only just down to the final chunk of Dolcelatte at last.

In the sprit of economy and some earth-hugging recycling chic, I'd like to draw your attention to LoveFoodHateWaste.com - a new online campaign to promote new food habits. Love Food Hate Waste is asking the nation to think positively about food and get into new habits following the theme of loving food and wasting less!

Planning ahead, making a shopping list, keeping an eye on portions, using the freezer more and getting creative with leftovers could not only help reduce the amount of food we throw away but save us money too.

I thoroughly applaud this site, and would encourage you all to visit it. Hopefully it'll make you have a little think about the way you treat food and meal planning. It's not all austerity and budget-control either - I find so many of my best new dishes come not from wandering the shops buying new produce, but by looking at the contents of my cupboards and fridge-freezer and working out what I can do with what I already have - see my post for last year's Leftover Tuesday (as pictured at the top of this post) for an example - mmmmm duck gyoza!

3 comments:

Trig said...

This is something I wrote about a year ago and I'm really passionate about. There's no excuse for the massive food waste that takes place. Interestingly, whereas you might think that richer people waste more while the poor are forced to use everything up, I've found the opposite to apply. Both of the Michelin starred restaurants in which I've worked have been exceptional in using leftovers, peelings, etc. in creative ways. Whereas you walk past fast food shops and see food waste strewn everywhere.

Anonymous said...

Interesting article given the prevailing environmental and economic issues facing us all.

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