The truth about food waste and how to avoid it

TOP FIVE WAYS TO REDUCE FOOD WASTE

• ●Make a plan — Write a menu planner alongside your shopping list, including ideas for using up leftovers. You can do this on a 2–weekly basis, or each week if you prefer. You may be surprised how much you can shave off your shopping bill, too.
• ●Don’t overbuy — Keep track of what’s already in your cupboards, the fridge and freezer so you don’t duplicate. BOGOF offers are tempting, but not if these items have short lives and may end up in the bin.
• ●Get freezing! — Batch cook and freeze meals in portion sizes, freeze leftovers for another day, and freeze in–season veg that you’ve grown and have an abundance of.
• ●Look for new inspiration — If you regularly end up with leftover veg, ask a friend or search the internet for recipes, such as soups, stews and pasta sauces.
• ●Grow you own herbs — Rather than throwing out soggy pre–packed herbs that you’ve forgotten to use up, grow pots on the windowsill so you can use what you need, when you need it.

And don’t forget, vegetable stalks and leaves that you would otherwise throw away can be put to good use. Make a stock, which you can add to gravy, soup or risotto – or add them to a compost bin to enrich your soil at home or on an allotment.