Angela Terry, CEO of climate group One Home, says we need to reduce food waste (Image: Rowan Griffiths / Daily Mirror)
Living like a King is simple when you know how – stop throwing away cake. To celebrate his 75th birthday, King Charles launched the £1million Coronation Food Project, aimed at cutting the amount of food we waste in Britain. The statistics are startling: 14 million people are facing food insecurity, yet UK households threw away 4.7 million tonnes of food last year that could have been eaten – the most in Europe.
Stephen Pound suggests King Charles should ‘step back’
And food wasted is money wasted: chucking out food costs the average household with children up to £60 a month, with potatoes, bread and leftovers most likely to be binned. The famously frugal King’s project focuses on redirecting surplus food from manufacturers and suppliers, but it’s also been revealed that His Majesty is on a personal mission to curb the amount of food thrown away in his household.
And Charles insists on eating a daily slice from the same cake until it’s finished. The Monarch’s motivations are also environmental, as food production and consumption is responsible for around 30 per cent of global carbon emissions.
Angela Terry, a green consumer expert and CEO of climate group One Home, said: “King Charles has long been an important voice on environmental issues, and he’s exactly right about food waste, too. Not only does wasting food cost money, it causes greenhouse gas emissions – around 25 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions are produced to make food that is discarded, which is a huge waste of resources.
“Cutting down the amount we buy will help to reduce this figure, as well as the amount of plastic and packaging we are throwing away. But many families just don’t know where to start on reducing the amount of food they bin.
“There are plenty of simple and easy tips and tricks that could save hundreds of pounds on your shopping bills, and cutting down on waste means being kinder to the planet, too.”
But is it possible for a busy family of five to make a real difference in their groceries budget with some tips, tweaks and advice?
We asked the Smith family – mum Victoria, 44, dad Rich, 46, and kids Baxter, 13, Finn, 11, and Niamh, two – from Clevedon, Somerset, to keep a diary of all the food they threw away for a fortnight. We then asked Angela to visit their kitchen and give them a food waste makeover.
Victoria, who runs an online preloved clothing business, said: “Cutting down on the amount of food we throw away is definitely something I’d like our family to get better at.
“I seem to throw away yogurts every day, and I buy fresh fruit and veg on offer at the supermarket which we then don’t eat.
“It’s really frustrating as I might as well be chucking money in the bin. But I find it hard to find reliable information about how long things like leftovers can be saved for, and with school runs, all the kids’ activities, plus our jobs I feel I don’t have much free time to sort this out. I’m interested to hear what Angela can recommend.”
ANGELA’S ADVICE FOR THE SMITHS
GET PLANNING
Angela says: “Writing down all the food you throw away for two weeks, like Victoria has done, is a great way to figure out where your problem areas are and what you’re buying too much of. Then, start writing a weekly meal planner, and use that to create a shopping list and stick to it. Aim for one night a week where you don’t cook, the busiest day is a good choice. Either get a batch-cooked meal out of the freezer or make extra the night before and have the leftovers.
“Putting aside an hour or so to do a batch cook at the weekend and then freezing the meals is a real time and money saver. Don’t be fooled by buy one, get one free deals – these are only saving money if you actually eat the food you buy.
“Finally, if your supermarket offers online shopping, it is a great way to cut down on waste and impulse buys.”
FRESH FRUIT AND VEG
Angela says: “Reducing the amount you buy, storing it properly and having variety are the keys here. Instead of putting a bunch of eight bananas wrapped in plastic in the trolley, figure out how many you need for the week and just buy that amount.
“Buying a bigger pack can save money, but only if you know that you’ll eat them all. Secondly, store fruit and veg properly. Potatoes should be in a dark cupboard and bananas should be stored separately, for example. That will help them to last longer.
Bags of salad are one of the most common items to be thrown away. Swap them instead for an iceberg lettuce, it lasts much longer and costs much less.
“Finally, make sure you’re not buying the same thing week after week out of habit. Remember, kids get bored quickly, so if you’ve bought satsumas for the past four weeks there’s a good chance no one will want them by week five.”
The Smith family – mum Victoria, 44, dad Rich, 46, and kids Baxter, 13, Finn, 11, and Niamh, two (Image: Rowan Griffiths / Daily Mirror)
- Support fearless journalism
- Read The Daily Express online, advert free
- Get super-fast page loading
DAIRY PRODUCTS
Angela says: “Victoria throws away a lot of yogurt. Kids’ lunch boxes can be tricky, and something perishable that’s been stuck in a school bag all day can’t be safely put back in the fridge.
“If you’re finding that certain foods keep coming home, have a conversation with the children and see what they’d like to be eating, within the school’s guidance.
“Buying a large tub of a new food like salad dressing or yogurt is also tempting, especially if it’s a new product and it’s on offer, but if you don’t like the taste then it will all end up in the bin.
“Try a smaller size first, if possible. If there are still unopened packs left, then instead of binning them use a food app like Olio, which allows users to swap food they don’t want or need, to find a good home for it.”
LEFTOVERS
Angela says: “Leftovers have a bit of a bad reputation as a last-ditch option, and Victoria, like many of us, has ended up throwing hers away. But cooking a bit more the night before and eating leftovers for lunch or dinner the day after means no cooking and no washing up. Try to eat them the day after, as the longer they are in your fridge the less likely you are to eat them. Putting food away in your fridge in date order helps you to eat the things first that are most likely to go out of date, so put leftovers at the front of the queue. The BBC Food website allows you to put in ingredients and then suggests a recipe, so this can be helpful if you need to use up some ingredients that may be left over after preparing a dish.”
CHECK DATES
Angela says: “The only dates you need to pay attention to are ‘use by’ dates. These should not be exceeded for food safety reasons, but anything that says ‘best before’ simply means the quality may not be as good if you eat it after that date. If something has a use-by date coming up, rather than throwing it out, your freezer is your friend. You can either pop it straight in, or cook it, cool it and then freeze it for eating later. Make sure meats are cooked through by checking the juices run clear once you take them out of the oven.
“Have a clearout and make an effort to defrost and eat any ingredients that have been hanging around for a while in order to free up space for batch-cooked meals and ingredients like meat and fish.”
PESTER POWER
Angela says: “Children will always try to fill up your supermarket trolley with snacks, drinks and treats that will get forgotten about, or they decide they don’t like after a single bite. Instead, stick to the list and ask them to help you. That might be going off to find certain items in the store for older ones, or putting things in the trolley for smaller ones. If they do all of their jobs, tell them they can choose one treat.”
VICTORIA’S VERDICT
“This is all really useful. I especially like the idea of giving the kids jobs to do in the supermarket to stop the trolley filling with things I know they won’t end up eating.
“Writing a two-week list opened my eyes to how much we were throwing away, and none of the things Angela has mentioned will take up too much time or need a lot of thought or energy. I’m keen to get started and start saving money.”
WHAT THE FAMILY THREW AWAY OVER TWO WEEKS
(Prices based on Aldi website Dec 5, 2023, where the family shop)
Week One:
Monday: Four bananas: £0.64.
Tuesday: Tub of hummus, yogurt, half head of broccoli, one pear: £2.04.
Wednesday: Two aubergines: £1.80.
Thursday: Half tin of spaghetti, four bagels, half carton of barista oat milk: £1.45.
Friday: Half used caesar salad dressing, half jar massaman curry paste, nearly full bottle of long life sour cream: £1.86.
Saturday: Bag of salad: £0.89.
Sunday: Nothing.
Total: £8.68
Week Two:
Monday: Onken yogurt large, quarter pack of ham: £2.12.
Tuesday: Leftover Massaman curry from Friday and rice, two white wraps, half cucumber, near full bottle of dressing, one children’s pizza: £1.96.
Wednesday: Nothing.
Thursday: Half punnet of grapes, quarter pack of ham: £1.21.
Friday: Two tube yogurts: £0.27.
Saturday: Nothing.
Sunday: Half chicken: £2.24.
Total £7.80
Estimated annual total: £428.48.
Visit onehome.org.uk for more information
