Unlike many people I've not done much "Zoom-ing" during the pandemic. We've done family ones which is OK and I tried WI but that just didn't appeal and then if I do hear about something that I'd like to join in with - I forget - Hopeless. The East of England Co-operative Society did a online presentation about food waste, food banks and growing food which sounded interesting. I registered for it, saw the reminder email in the morning and then promptly forgot until bedtime - bit late then as it was on at 6pm! Luckily it was available a day later on You-Tube so I didn't miss much except the chance to ask questions - which I doubt I would have done anyway.
A nudge about food waste was much needed......... as I'm horrified by the food waste I seem to have created while emptying the cupboards and eating down the stocks.
If anyone had asked me if there was any very out of date food in the cupboard I would have said "no of course not" but there was. In a tub a pack of really old short grain rice....2010! - and I don't even like rice pudding and this pack had moved house twice.....HOW? There were some things that were bought for Colin..... so that's 3 years ago.....a couple of tins of soup which I don't really like but could have eaten but kept just in case. Just in case of what? Now they are too old to go into the food-bank collection box at the Co-op.
In the big freezer in the garage there were portions of home made food which I'm eating my way through and much prefer to a tin of soup BUT why did I buy a pack of Yellow-Sticker chicken thighs and then put them in the freezer without splitting them? When I defrosted there were 10 small thighs. 10! for one person...........I'm eating them as quickly as I can but don't even like meat much anymore.
Certainly find it much more difficult to avoid some wastage now I'm on my own.
What is worse is that I watched a programme that said now - in 2021 - 45% of our food is imported and only 16% of the fruit eaten here is grown here so food is travelling miles to be chucked out.
I enjoyed the 'challenge' weeks of eating really local food so with that in mind plus being unable to produce much food of my own and hoping to reduce waste, once I'm settled I'm going to try much harder......remind me please!
Back Tomorrow
Sue
I'm on my own too, and I find that the most important time for avoiding food waste is the time just after I've got home from the supermarket or I've had a delivery. It's awfully easy to put the meat into the freezer without portioning it and it's awfully easy to put the new packs into the cupboard in front of the old, especially if I'm tired.
ReplyDeleteBringing in the shopping and putting it away is not my favourite job - I always think - how does one person eat all this? and I just want a coffee when I get in anyway!
DeleteDon't beat yourself up, we've all been there! We do try not to waste food, but I must admit there are some ingredients bought for a (long forgotten) recipe that have only been used once, then languish in the cupboard. I now try to substitute things I already have and know I'll use. xx
ReplyDeleteI'm glad I had some stores this week - because of being snowed in. But not as much as I had.
DeleteI'm finding that I need a lot less food than I think I do. Subconsciously, I think I'm buying for two plus 'in case' although, as you say - in case of what?
ReplyDeleteIt's probably too late now but you could have cooked the chicken and then refrozen in single portions, that would he fine.
Like you - I need to try harder too.
xx
I think I'm now only buying for me but it was the things left in the cupboards when buying for 2 that have worried me.
Deleteyesterday the birds enjoyed a 2 years out of date pack of trifle sponges . I did have to hit them witth a hammer
ReplyDeleteYou've made lots of people smile with this! see all the other comments :-)
DeleteLike you, Sue, I am "eating up the cupboards"in preparation for The Move. My problem recently has been thinking that there is a tin of X in the cupboard then discovering it is Y. Usually the "simple/budget" range where the labels are very similar. I misread Kates comment. I thought she was strongly encouraging the birds to eat the sponges! Trifle sponges are indestructible
ReplyDeleteI'm not happy with whats moving with me yet again - must eat it up especially as I'll be withing a 5 minute walk to a shop so don't need big stores
DeleteDid Kate hit the birds or the sponges? It is always good to see the funny side of things.
ReplyDeleteMade me smile too
DeleteOh Sue, we did our very best to eat our way through the freezers before moving, but although we managed the meat, I still blanch at the thought of how much vegetables and fruit I had to throw away. I gave some to a neighbour, but even so . . . We won't be using the big chest freezer now so will pass it on when we're out of Lockdown. There are no fruit trees or bushes here (yet, I am going to change that). So don't beat yourself up - there's a limit to how much you can munch through!
ReplyDeleteNo fruit trees at the bungalow either just an olive on the front lawn - but I've got an Olive in a pot so might replant the front lawn with a mini orchard
DeleteOn my own here too. I don't have a big freezer but do have a well stocked pantry. I get a delivery once every 10 to 14 days now that I can't get to shop in person. To minimise waste I have an inventory of tinned and dried goods which includes dates. I have found many fresh foods freeze well, so buy the BOGOF deals and chop or slice things such as peppers, onions, oranges, lemons, even courgettes, and have found special bags from Lakeland which prolong freshness quite well, although a bit pricey it's better than wasting food. Also, I shred cabbage and keep in a lock n lock box for days, fresh and ready to use as needed. I know we all have a bag for suitable scraps to collect enough to make soup in our freezers. Sorry for rambling, but if we all share our ways we might just minimise the waste.
ReplyDeleteYou are very organised. I don't even have a box for scraps for soup because of only having a teeny freezer in the back porch and a chest freezer out in the garage and not being keen on soup. But I could make stock - as I said I MUST do better
DeleteWe were having the same conversation here, whilst not wasting food, a few bad habits have crept in, it time for us to focus and get back on track.
ReplyDeleteYes I seem to have got lazy through the last few months and a fail at being organised
DeleteI was looking in my cupboard for dried parsley the other day. I found it ... dated 2015! We moved here in 2018 so how did that sneak past me? No matter, I finished off what was left and added it to my next shopping order because you just need to have some things in your cupboard even if you don't use them that often!
ReplyDeleteI reckon your parsley was a bit pale! - it seems to lose it's colour very quickly
DeleteSaint Rachel doesn't waste much food. She lives alone, doesn't have a freezer, just a fridge with an ice box. She buys tinned food that she likes and nothing but what she likes so it will never not be eaten and fresh meat and veg that she eats and shops once a week. Cabbages are cut in thirds and cover three meals and the rest of the vegetables are frozen peas and frozen beans that are in the icebox. Fruit is 6 oranges that last the week. Chocolate, cereals and tea and coffee cover the rest, oh and a loaf of bread for the week. It is snowing again here Sue.
ReplyDeleteWell done Saint Rachel, my halo is round my knees!
Deleteand as I type this tiny bits of snow are falling again and the driveway is still nearly a foot deep of drifts
DeleteThe fact you even consider food waste puts you way ahead of most of the population, so I wouldn't beat myself up about it. There are so many things we can beat ourselves up over (food waste, excess plastics etc) that simply recognizing the issues and doing something about it is an excellent state of mind.
ReplyDeleteMust try harder is easy to say but not so easy to do sometimes!
DeleteSue I am afraid I could have written this I am ashamed to say.
ReplyDeleteI'm not happy about the things I "found" that I knew were there but just hadn't eaten.....hangs head in shame!
DeleteI read an interesting article about while ago about how local food sometimes had a bigger carbon footprint than good that's travelled a long way. E. G., it can be greener to grow potatoes in a good potato growing area and transport them than to grow them locally where they need more fertiliser, etc.
ReplyDeleteI, sadly, waste some food these days. We're shielding here and get food delivered once a week. We have to make sure we have what we need and sometimes have to replace food that might last 10 days, say, but might go off before a fortnight's up. We do put things on the compost heap when we can though.
You give a good reminder to your readers. I try hard to not waste food but I am far from perfect. I recently cleaned out a cabinet and was surprised to find some items very past date that had somehow gotten past me. I have such life long habits of buying items on sale but I am learning that I need to stop and think before I do that. You are not really saving money if you end up throwing out part of what you bought.
ReplyDeleteI think that cooking for one would be very hard. I have problems cooking for two and while I am really trying to stop the food waste, I still have some once in awhile.
ReplyDeleteI think you are doing the best that you can and you can only move forward from this.
God bless.
What a timely post. Just today I took part of a left over chicken breast, gathered up the left over vegetables, added it to rice. We ate it. It was not great. Today my frugal self contributed to food waste.
ReplyDeleteFood waste doesn't happen here. I'm feeding only me, and have very little freezer space, though if I put the non used ice cube trays up in a cupboard I can't reach anyway, there would be more room.
ReplyDeleteBut seriously, I only buy what I like to eat, and having spent hard got money on it, I eat it.
I would love to eat only locally produced food, but I love oranges and bananas and avocados etc etc. And salad in the middle of winter, and strawberries year round.....
ReplyDeleteIf you ever find yourself with unwanted food again, you can use the local Freecycle pages, Facebook Marketplace or the Olio App to find new homes for even out of date food. The way to do it these days is to bag up the food and put it in a carrier bag on your doorstep with the recipients name on and they come and collect it. It's kept a lot of families fed through the pandemic.
ReplyDeleteBut yes, even though I'm mostly alone I do find myself buying more shopping than I should occasionally, although I am still keeping to mainly British grown fruit and veg, there is surprisingly still some lovely big tomatoes that are Kent grown in all the shops (usually in the Finest or Best ranges). I guess they are from those huge glass houses you see on television.
It's shocking when you read those figures about imports. I used to love the days waiting with anticipation for the strawberry stall to arrive at the market in June. It made them so special and they were delicious!
ReplyDeleteI'm finding I'm having to relearn how to cook, for 2. We are in our middle years now (60 & 58) and no longer want(need) a big evening meal. Especially in the winter months. Farmer has been content with warm but smaller lunches and even smaller evening meals. I'm used to cooking for 2 growing boys and a hard-working Farmer all these past years and now it's not that way. We don't need a dutch oven of soup, when a saucepan will do. An 8x8 pan instead of a 9x13. We don't eat that many leftovers and the boys are now married men who aren't here to eat them either. That is my challenge for this year.
ReplyDelete