by Lyndy Mansfield

The Americans are reputed to be the world’s biggest wasters of food. Let us not follow suit.

Go ugly. Most grocers and food producers discard food that is not perfectly shaped or too small for the regulation size accepted by the producers and retailers. In Europe there are already markets that sell perfectly good, but misshapen and wrongly sized produce. Chat to your supermarket outlet. This food is perfectly good and should be marketed or given to charities, not thrown on some dump site. (Yes, that really happens in places.)

Sell by dates. Don’t be duped by these dates. They are not expiry dates and for the most part the food is perfectly good for some time further. Once again, check with your grocer. So much food is thrown out because of these dates. Good for the sellers, bad for us. Think of the starving masses.

Store and preserve properly. If necessary do some research on this. Keep your veggies at the right temperature, whether in some water or not. Find what is the best way to keep root vegetables and different varieties of fruit. This will all lead to a longer and healthier life for your foodstuffs.

Do not ‘over buy’. It is tempting to buy more than you really need, especially when items are at bargain price. Be rational. Take as much as you can manage so you won’t end up throwing out produce that has gone rotten.

Make compost. To many of us, this seems a rather daunting task, but, in actual fact, with all the help and advice around these days, it’s really easy – and if I say it is, it has to be!

 

 

Source: Steve Holt for Thrive Market.