On average, local families could save as much as £600 a year by reducing food waste.
That is because as much as half of the 4,000 tonnes of food waste households will produce this year could have been eaten instead. With the average Guernsey family spending more than £400 a month on groceries, as much as £50 is ending up in the bin. With a few small changes, that can be avoided.
Top tips:
- Lovely leftovers: being creative with leftovers is a clever way to save money and make what's in the fridge go further. Sunday's roast leftovers can be used in many dishes from cheeky curries to cracking risottos.
- Perfect portions: it's likely we've all got the perfect item for measuring a portion. A mug of uncooked rice is the right amount for four adults and the hole in the middle of a spaghetti spoon is enough for one person. But if you're in any doubt, we recommend using the Love Food Hate Waste Portion Planner. It gives you serving sizes and storage information for any food that you don't use immediately.
- Cook from the cupboard: with canned and dried foods in the cupboard and some fridge and freezer basics (see "Store cupboard essentials" in the "Downloads" section), you can pull together a quick meal to make the most of any leftovers.
- Know your dates: checking dates saves money. Food can be eaten right up to a 'use-by' date or frozen. 'Best before' dates are for quality so there is no need to throw out food on the stated date - eggs being the exception.
- It pays to plan: a great way of saving time and money is to check what's in the cupboard, fridge and freezer and make a list before going shopping. Planning removes the hassle of thinking about what to eat every day and lets us enjoy food at its freshest.
Recipes:
Christmas is a time when, no matter how hard we try and how much we plan, there are always leftovers. In the "Downloads" section on the right hand side of this page are a selection of recipes, so if you can't face another turkey sandwich then we have some great alternatives for you. Use up any leftover vegetables too if you want to add more texture and substance to the curry.
Video clips:
We've teamed up with Calum Le Noury (Operations Director at the Sarnia Hotels Group) to help you Love Food, and Hate Waste this Christmas. Calum has been sharing his tips for helping us to avoid food waste, and some delicious recipes for using up any Christmas leftovers that you might have. These video clips will be posted on our Facebook page over the Christmas period, so keep an eye on www.facebook.com/recycleforgsy so you can see them as soon as they go live. The recipes that Calum uses are also available in the "Downloads" section.
The Love Food Hate Waste website contains all the above tips and more, plus lots of tasty recipes, to help you cut out waste in the kitchen, which will save you money. Just click on the Love Food Hate Waste graphic, and start thinking about what you can do with the extra money you'll have.
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