‘Food Waste Action Week‘ is an annual food waste reduction campaign brought to you by the international climate action NGO, WRAP. Their mission is to highlight the often forgotten climate change issue of food waste. In the UK, the average person wastes 95 kg of food per year, costing them around £250. But there are easy actions we can all take to reduce our household food waste.
Ditch the plastic and buy loose
In 2025 WRAP are sharing the message that buying loose is better. Their research, carried out in 2022 showed that 60,000 tonnes of food would be saved from waste every year if all apples, bananas and potatoes were sold loose. Vote to remove the packaging on the ‘Love Food, Hate Waste’ website.
Whenever I have extra fruits or vegetables, they almost always end up in cakes – apple cake, carrot cake and banana bread are regulars in our house. Other ideas for apples shared during FWAW were dried apple chips or simple baked apples.
Grated carrots can be added to many savoury dishes without you (or the kids) even noticing – I often add one to bolognese sauce, homemade burgers or cottage pie. When it comes to potatoes don’t forget the peel – these can be turned into healthy crisps, used in veg stock or save time and just leave them on for mash or roast potatoes. Our blog on root to fruit eating has more ideas for ‘compl-eating’, making the most of every edible part.
Get savvy with your storage
If you do end up with a large bag of fruit or vegetables, then follow our food storage hacks for less waste. Fruits and veggies in plastic tend to ‘sweat’ which makes them rot faster, especially if they are stored at room temperature like potatoes and onions. Ideally take them out of the plastic bag, but definitely open it to allow air to circulate and moisture to escape.
Most fruit and veg will stay fresher for longer in the fridge; the only exceptions are whole pineapples, bananas and onions. If like me you prefer to eat fruits at room temperature, add a few at a time to the fruit bowl, but keep the extras in the fridge.
If you don’t have room in the fridge, potatoes can be stored somewhere cool, dark and well ventilated. They do keep longer in the fridge though, and the Food Standards Agency (FSA) recently confirmed this is safe.
The FSA also say it is fine to eat sprouting potatoes – just cut off the sprouts and any green bits before cooking.
Image by Donna Marijne at Flikr, CC BY-SA 2.0
Search WRAPs A-Z of foods to find out how to store all your favourites, alongside recipes to inspire you to get creative. Most fruit and veg can also be frozen to extend their life. If they go a bit mushy you can use them in soups and smoothies – I’ve even frozen raw cabbage when going off on holiday – it later got added to a curry. Check the Freezeit.co.uk website if you aren’t sure.
Recipes from Rose Hill Community Larder
We love these quick and easy recipes from Rose Hill Community Larder, produced especially for ‘Food Waste Action Week’. They’ve got your main and dessert, or Sunday brunch, sorted with veggie fritters and banana pancakes.
Veggie Fritters
Any leftover cooked or raw veggies can be used or throw in some frozen or tinned veg at the end of the week when the fridge is bare.
Ingredients
- Bowl of raw or cooked veg
- 75g plain flour
- 3 medium eggs
- 100g creme fraiche
- Salt and pepper to taste
Method
Mix all the ingredients together. Gently fry a large spoonful of the mixture in a pan of hot oil for 1-2 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Repeat until all the mix is used. It’s as easy as that.
Banana Pancakes
Bananas are a commonly wasted food in the UK, but there are so many ways to use them – check out our blog for ten ideas! This pancake recipe is extra healthy with added oats.
Ingredients
- 2 ripe bananas
- 2 eggs
- 1 1/2 cup rolled oats
- 2 tsps baking powder
- Cinnamon, vanilla extract, salt to taste
Method
Blend all the ingredients until smooth. Heat oil in a non-stick pan. Add about 1/3 cup of mixture and cook for 2-3 minutes until golden brown. Flip and cook for 2 more minutes. And then fight over who gets the first one!
Don’t use it? Swap it
I absolutely love this idea from Sustainable Didcot – they asked people to bring along one food item they don’t use to their FWAW event and swap it for something they will use. I would have taken a jar of turmeric, as it turns our plates yellow! What would you take? Why not arrange a swap with your friends or neighbours, donate unopened items to your local food bank, or pop them on Olio or Freegle.
Plan, shop, store, eat
For more tips and ideas Oxfordshire Recycles have put together a guide to reduce food waste and save money in four easy steps. Plan ahead, shop savvy, store smart and most of all eat it!
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