Oh my goodness. Food waste. What a tragedy and what a massively important issue.

If you heard me being interviewed on BBC Radio London recently, you will know how strongly I feel about this. (If you didn’t hear the interview but would like to then you listen to it here at 31 mins 50 sec or you can find it in BBC Sounds, 19/10/21 The Scene with Claira Hermet).

I’m sure lots of you will already be familiar with these or similar statistics but as a reminder;

• Globally, 25–30% of total food produced is lost or wasted.
• If food waste were a country, it would be the world’s third largest emitter of GHG after China and the USA.

I mean, that’s criminal right? Especially given levels of global hunger and the environmental crisis with which we are currently faced.

So, what can we do in our homes, every day, to help reduce the waste? … Let’s remember, this isn’t about being perfect. It’s about making small changes where we can. After all, If everyone reduces their food waste a little, the compound effect will be enormous.

TOP TIP NUMBER 1

Meal planning – neither new nor innovative. But game changing in terms of reducing food waste. Admittedly, it does take time to plan meals and in truth, when I’m super busy I often have to dig deep to manage it. But it’s one of, if not the biggest game changer, in reducing our household food waste. I have a pad that has the week mapped out, includes meals and snacks but brilliantly, also sections for what’s in the fridge/freezer & space to write down use by dates. So each week, I jot down what we already have and then start meal planning from there.

Excitingly, there will be a Diddy Diners meal planning pad available soon. Feel free to contact me diddydiners@gmail.com to pre-register your interest or sign up here to receive my monthly newsletter which is where the first announcement will be made.

TOP TIP NUMBER 2

Use a chalk pen to label leftovers – presumably I’m not the only one that’s been guilty of throwing away leftovers from the fridge because I can’t remember when I put the in there?! Or eating leftovers, not really enjoying them because I’m not completely sure they’re OK?……. Well, I’m very pleased to report that since starting to use a chalk pen to label containers with leftovers, neither of the above are a problem. I just grab the pen, write the date on the container & pop it in the fridge. No faffing with labels, wasting paper or trying to remove sticky residue afterwards – chalk pen wipes off like a dream!

TOP TIP NUMBER 3

Blend wilting herbs & freeze in an ice cube tray – you know that horrible moment when you open the veg drawer, see some sad herbs at the back and feel like there’s no life left for them? Well, instead of throwing them away why not blend them up (or chop finely with a knife) and freeze them in an ice cube tray. Then, you can pop one out anytime you fancy a flavour burst or use them to cool down hot soup, stew or casserole. You can obviously make these with one herb or blend a few together for a multi flavour hit!

To see a short video of this being done check out the reel on my Instagram page.

Of course, there are many, many, other ways that we can reduce food waste – I’ll write a few follow ups to this post with more ideas but in the meantime I’d love to hear your tips so please do share. And please do let me know if you find anything in this post particularly helpful or if you use it to try something new.

Sending lots of healthy, nourishing wishes to everyone.

Josephine X