Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Cutting down household food waste

Most food items we buy carry an expiry date .  That is the cut off date,  after which  the producer can’t be blamed if the food item you buy turns unfit for human consumption.  Publication of the expiry date is statutory, and  in many food labels  you also find a  ‘Best-before’  date of consumption.  Which,  according to Green activist Michael Bloch,  means,  simply,  that the item  (according to the manufacturer) tastes best before that date.  “I have no problem with swallowing stuff that is past the best before date and (so far) I’ve never had a single case of food poisoning”,  Bloch says in Green Living Tips website.  He adds: “I often wonder if the ‘best before’ date is a ruse from the food industry to have us chucking out more and then buying more”.
The green activist’s  tips for cutting down our  food waste:
1) Check your fridge weekly and bring foods that will expire soon to the front
2) Ditto for your food cupboards.
3) Bulk buying can save you money, but it can cost you more, if you buy too much of items with a short use-by date or the ones that lose favor with your family.
4) It’s not unusual to find packets of chips with just a handful left, or just a swallow of orange juice left in the container.It usually sits there until it’s thrown out.
5) Supermarkets are designed to get you buying more that what you originally came in for.
6) Don’t shop from memory….cannot remember all the things you need….results in buying too much of some items and not enough of some others – and waste sometimes occurs.
7) Leaving packets open, refrigerating stuff that doesn’t require it and vice versa speeds up food spoilage.
8) Some meals you make seem to generate more waste than others. That’s fine if leftovers can be eaten the next day…or else, you need to  slowly reduce the amount you cook.
9) Use the Internet….whatever it is you have too much of in the food cupboard that’s likely  to be tossed out …you could find a squillion recipes for online!
10) Even after following the foregoing points you might end up with some waste – and also unavoidables  such as veg. peelings. Compost or  worm farm kitchen waste.

Cross-filed from My Take by GVK

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