Waste No Food
We’ve read many of the statistics on how much edible food is wasted each month and year in Australia, and globally, and so much going to landfill to contribute to methane gas production which isn’t doing our planet any good. Numbers such as $20 billion worth of edible food being thrown into landfill each year in Australia. Nearly one fifth of the food we buy is wasted from households, food services and retail, that’s an average of nearly 300kg per person. On average, every household in NSW alone wastes nearly $4,000 of food each year (The Food Smart Program, NSW Environment Protection Authority). How expensive that is on our household budget!
There’s a perception that leaving food on our plate is more polite than eating it all, and it’s accepted practice in some cultures. However we need to weigh up the cost to our environment and human resources, as well as energy, water and transport needed to produce and convey food. Then there’s the cost to the environment in dealing with wasted food.
There is also a perception that giving our unwanted food to the dog, chooks or compost bin is justified – we can tell ourselves that we’re not really wasting it.
Be as creative as the chefs on TV
We can trust our meal preparation and be confident to change recipes to suit ingredients we have on hand and our leftovers, to produce safe and tasty dishes. We know that curry and casseroles are usually tastier the next day and two, when the flavours have permeated the meat and vegs.
We can be creative in using onion skins, banana peel, orange peel, the bracts on cauliflower and cabbage, celery tops, broccoli stems, the dregs of the peanut butter jar, honey and miso, to produce tasty nibbles, appetisers, and meals, stir-fried dishes, roasted vegetables, satisfying omelettes, soups, toppings and dressings, relishes and pickles. Old, sad oranges can be used to make a delicious chocolate and orange cake. Be conscious of what you’re throwing out, even to the chooks or compost – it’s nearly all food we can eat and will help reduce household spending.
Get together with friends and have a lunch or dinner party using ingredients and leftovers you have on hand in recipes you might never have tried, or have used previously and enjoyed. You could make a challenge out of it to see who can prepare the tastiest meal.
There is a plethora of internet sites such as YouTube and others which show us how to grow our own fruit and vegetables, even on small plots or balconies. The advantages of having our own produce are not only that it’s fresh and wholesome, and also we can pick just the amount we want for that meal, with the rest not going mouldy in the fridge until we want more.
Don’t take the easy way out by throwing away unused food – it’s no harder, and it is considerably cheaper, to refrigerate or freeze what we already have and use it to the last, than to shop for more of the same. While on shopping, plan meals a few days ahead, shop with a list and try not to shop if you’re hungry – they can all lead to spontaneous purchases.
Meals on the go
When travelling, on holiday, buying takeaway, or eating at a local restaurant, consider ordering only what you’ll realistically eat in that meal. You can also take your own ‘doggy box’ – a collapsible bowl easily fits into a bag, and means there’s one less cardboard box going into recycling or landfill.
Regulations and reminders for our protection
Enormous resource and cost are involved in ensuring that Australians have access to high quality and safe food, and we all expect food which is tasty. There is a raft of national, state and local government legislation with their attendant regulations, enforcement and safety monitoring. Australia is an active participant in the World Health Organization CODEX forum which sets internationally-agreed standards for all aspects of food traded, such as labelling, hygiene and additives. Food Standards Australia New Zealand develops and administers the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code for food produced and sold in Australia sets requirements for labelling for both packaged and unpackaged food, including mandatory warnings or advisory labels for things like allergens; and is responsible for coordinating food recalls when required. We can honour all this oversight by using food to its fullest value and wasting the least.
Globally, there are annual reminders of how we can play our part in reducing food waste, with International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste Reduction (29 September); World Food Day (16 October); and National Leftovers Day (26 December)
Members of SEE Change continually promote reduction of food waste by conducting surveys of households in the ACT to obtain feedback on their purchasing and discarding practices; hosting low-waste cooking sessions; participating in government and food industry conferences and round-tables; collaborating with the Waste Education and Partnership team of ACT NoWaste to provide literature and household aids on planning meals, and reducing over-purchasing and wastage.
We all pay GST on all food except unprocessed items, so it’s a shame and doesn’t make sense to stretch household budgets to buy food which we then discard.