When asked, most people say that they don’t throw much food away. However, in the UK most people throw away around £230 of food a year, and for families this can be around £840 a year! Not only can cutting our food waste save money, it can help the environment – if everyone in the UK cut their food waste, we could reduce emissions by as much as if we took 1 in 4 cars off the road. Here are our three top tips for saving food:
Keep your fridge cool
The average fridge in UK homes is set to 7 degrees, which is far too high for most foods, meaning they go off quicker and get wasted. Checking and changing your fridge temperature to 0–5 degrees can make food last up to three extra days.
Not sure how to check the temperature? The Love Food Hate Waste fridge thermometer tool can help you work it out.
Store it right
To help demystify food storage, Love Food Hate Waste has developed a new A–Z food storage guide. A few top tips:
- Potatoes and onions belong in a cool, dark place, not the fridge.
- Eggs belong in their original box in the fridge. You can freeze eggs by separating the whites and yolks and pop them in a labelled container.
- Tomatoes can be stored in the fridge to make them last longer.
Make the most of your freezer
If you’re not a keen meal planner, remember you can freeze food right up to the use-by date.
If you have some fruit about to go off, chop it up and freeze it in chunks! An ice-cube tray is your friend here – freeze chunks separately in the different sections, then when they’re good and chilled pop them all in an airtight container or bag.
You can find lots more tips and recipes at Love Food Hate Waste.
Replenish 