We tend to think of Christmas as the season of over-eating and over-spending but it’s also the season of over-buying, especially when it comes to food. In fact, we scrape the equivalent of 4.2 million extra Christmas dinners into the bin each festive season, including 740,000 Christmas puddings and 7.5 million mince pies, an Olympic-size swimming pool of gravy.
Binning, removing, treating and dumping our food in landfill not only wastes all the planetary resources that went into growing and transporting the food in the first place, but also releases millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, contributing to global warming.
After a year when many of us have needed to tighten our belts when it comes to spending (not to mention needing to keep an eye on our waistlines too!), how can we be less wasteful in the season of excess?
Write a list – and check it twice
This is good advice all year round and not just for Christmas. By working out a meal plan for the festive period, thinking about how much storage space you have in the fridge and freezer, and writing a detailed list you can hopefully avoid buying too much, as well as resisting impulse purchases and being led astray by special offers. Remember that supermarkets only close for a couple of days over the holiday period so there’s no need to panic buy or stockpile. Yes, it’s a little boring but forward planning means you’ll massively reduce the risk of waste – and as an extra bonus you’ll feel really organised and fairly smug too!
Correct storage
Did you know you should never keep bread in the fridge? Or that apples and oranges last longer in the fridge than the fruit bowl? Or that chickpeas freeze really well? Storage often gets overlooked as a factor in preventing food waste, but keeping different types of food in the optimum places, whether that’s a dark cupboard or the fridge, as well as wrapping it well or storing in an airtight container, will ensure it lasts as long as possible. For a handy list of storage tips for different foods go to https://www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/article/food-storage-a-z
Use your senses
Research by WRAP suggests that changes to food packaging could save around 350,000 tonnes of good food from ending up in the bin by changing to ‘best before’ dates rather than ‘use by’ on foods where it would be safe to do so. This is partly because a lot of people are guided by best before and use by dates and throw food away regardless of whether it’s still good to eat. Remember that use by dates are there for safety – usually on fresh foods that may be harmful to eat after this date because of sometimes invisible bacterial growth that could cause food poisoning – not just visible signs like bad smells or mould – so eat these as a priority. Best before dates are about the quality – a food is at its peak before the best before and may decline a little afterwards, so just use your judgement about whether to use it – does it look and smell ok? When buying your festive foods, check the ‘use by’ and ‘best before’ dates are long enough for when you plan to eat the products.
Love your leftovers
Get creative and reinvent leftover food – turn roasted parsnips into a soup with apple and sage; Christmas pudding makes a delicious addition to a crumble topping, while mince pies can be crumbled into ice cream for a festive pud. Make bubble and squeak with leftover potatoes and greens such as sprouts, while a slice of nut roast is lovely in a doorstop sandwich with some baby spinach and a dollop of cranberry sauce.
Dine buffet-style
Another great way to use leftovers is to have an evening where you serve an eclectic buffet – or a ‘nibble plate’ or ‘picky tea’ or whatever you like to call it in your family. It’s a brilliant way to serve up lots of bits and bobs from the cupboards and fridge, from leftover stuffing balls to odds and ends from the cheeseboard, half-finished sharing bags of crisps and the last portions of Christmas Day desserts. It’s an easy way to clear the fridge and make sure everything gets used up – plus there’s no need to cook.
Your freezer is your friend
It’s amazing what you can freeze – it’s an opportunity to press pause on the ‘use by’ dates if you’re worried you won’t get around to eating something or your plans change, plus it can be a lifesaver when you can’t be bothered to cook! You can freeze milk, bread (toast straight from the freezer), raw eggs, pulses, most fruits (great for smoothies), mince pies and even grated cheese and parboiled potatoes – which can be roasted straight from frozen. Just make sure you label everything with the name and date it was frozen.
Last chance to save it
Even when foods have gone beyond their best, many can still be saved. Stale (never mouldy) bread makes great croutons for salads and soup, or can be turned into breadcrumbs and used for a gratin or for veggie burger mixes (or frozen for later); sour milk makes great pancakes and scones (yes, really!) and blackened bananas are brilliant for banana bread, of course. Even if you don’t want to eat the scones or banana bread over Christmas, they can be frozen for later too.
Blender brilliance
A blender is such a handy gadget and it can give both raw and cooked food a new lease of life. Blend vegetables with a combination of herbs, spices, oil and nuts to create a pesto, a curry or pasta sauce or a soup, while fruit can become a smoothie, a milkshake or a purée to use in baking or serve with yoghurt or a dessert.
Roast it
Putting food on a baking tray and roasting it will increase its shelf life, whether it’s peppers, plums or veggie sausages. The oven kills any bacteria and extends the window for eating it, plus you will create some delicious goodies such as roasted veg to eat for lunch or fruit to serve with yoghurt for breakfast. In fact cooking generally extends the shelf life of most foods – for example, if your eggs are on their use by date, boil them for salads or sandwiches and you can safely eat them for a few days after.
Donate it
If there’s anything in your cupboards that you know you won’t eat, or you’ve been gifted something none of your family like, check with your local food bank and donate your unopened food instead. Check https://www.trusselltrust.org or your local authority and council websites to find your local food bank. Alternatively, offer it to your friends or neighbours, or download a food sharing app like OLIO, which enables you to share food with your wider local community.