5 things to do with going-off fruit & veg!

28th April 2021 is Stop Food Waste Day. In the UK, hundreds of thousands of tonnes of good food are wasted every year. Sadly, food waste has massive environmental and socioeconomic consequences.  

Wrap, a charity prompting sustainability recently announced that every year, UK households throw away 6.6. million tonnes of food waste with 70% wasted each year still being edible! This equates to 4.5 million tonnes of edible food being thrown away yearly, costing a household around £810! That is crazy when 8.4 million people in the UK are struggling to afford to eat (that is equivalent to the entire population of London!). 

The wasted food has taken loads of fresh water, land and labour to produce. The most common reason food is thrown away in the UK is due to not being used in time. Luckily there are loads of things we can do to play our part and help reduce food waste!

Here my favourite five – they even make fun activities to do with the kids!  

Butternut squash peels, cauliflower leaves, potato peels, broccoli stems, you name it, you can most likely roast them! Toss your vegetable scraps in a drizzle of oil and sprinkle of salt and roast in the oven for 15 minutes at 190 degrees for a lovely crispy and crunchy snack or side dish! Try pairing it with our tzatziki dip!  

Left over fruit about to get thrown? Freeze! Chop up your left-over fruit and place them in an ice try. Pour your water in and freeze for lovely and refreshing fruity ice cubes! Or try mixing the fruit with half water and half juice and freezing it in ice-lolly moulds. Both ideas work with any fruit and are perfect for cooling down in the summer.   

Get creative and use your leftover vegetables to tie-dye! Red cabbage for purple dye, beetroot for pink, carrot tops for yellow and so much more! All you need to do is simmer the veg in boiling water and vinegar for an hour and the strain it! Grab some plain t-shirts, pillowcases or socks and get dunking! Read more about it here!  

Milk about to go spoilt? Veg about to go off? Won’t be used in tonight’s dinner? Why don’t you make someone smile by turning it into anything, a cake, a vegetable pie or even some homemade soup and gifting it to someone special. This won’t just make someone’s else day but will also make you feel good!  

Think about what you are going to eat for the week before you hit the supermarket! Meal planning is one of the most effective ways to reduce food waste and save on your food bills! This way you know how all your ingredients will be used in the week and can shop accordingly! Make it a team effort and get the whole family involved in planning by using our meal planner! i 

It may feel small, but we can all play a part in reducing food waste and helping our planet. Try one of these ideas and tag us on Instagram, we would love to see it!