This is bad news according to the latest research that global food wast is over 500 calories daily per person and the obvious statistic is the more money we have in our pockets the more food we waste and we are effectively feeding 4 when we should be feeding 5.
I know its hard not to waste things occasionally but this is OTT. Another important thing that we have to realise is that food waste increases global warming by 10% so we need to resolve these things and think about what we can do rather than thinking it's someone else even though we may generate minimal waste.
It's not good news at all, when you think of all the homeless people and those that use food banks then this food that is wasted could be donated to those that are in need. I have wasted food and I put my hand up to that but I am a lot more conscious now with my food i.e. I freeze leftovers etc. I'd rather have a little more food that enough but what I have in excess I freeze. The only time I tend to waste food, which I'll admit to, is when following one of the low fodmap recipes and buying an ingredient for a recipe that I've never used before and then finding that what I've bought is too much i.e. it's sold in a plastic bag rather than loose and I have no option but to buy in excess. I'm now more mindful of this and will be freezing all excesses for future use when I make the recipe again or find another one. Problem that I've had also is I've run out of freezer space because I freeze so much. I think if my husband and me ate the same diet then it would be much easier.
If I don't think I'm going to use up an ingredient and have no space in the freezer then I won't be making that recipe so that I don't waste.
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Hi Alicia,
What I find shocking is this is food thats the equivalent to 520 calories every day per person of the worlds population and as you say there's millions of people starving. But its waste from the big retailers and the fast food chains that account for a lot.
The real problem is the people who care and are the ones who waste the least so I wouldn't go worrying about the amount of food that you waste.
Now you could always borrow a dog from a friend and at dinner time tell your hubby that you got all muddled up and his dinner is in the dog but he can have some of yours as you've plenty... sorted. 😀
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I totally agree Jerry that the figure is shocking and the companies have a lot to answer for as do restaurants who serve very big meals and I would say probably schools waste a lot as well. Also, talking about the planet as such, we've basically touched on it here, there's a local school near me that puts paper and plastic in normal bins. I'm going to talk to them about putting recycling boxes/bins in the classrooms.
Totally agree those that care waste least. Hmm, maybe I could find a dog.
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It's a disgrace isn't it when they put things in the black bin that could easily be recycled!
Most of our rubbish gets put in the green recycling bags and very little goes in our black bin nowadays.
For food waste for us that's minimal as most leftovers go to our very spoilt ginger tabby called baby or get reused another day as another meal for us not thrown in the bin!
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It really is very bad, there's no excuse for throwing plastic and paper into bins.
The only stuff that goes in our black bin is non recycling and things that we can't use for anything else, we have very little rubbish. We have a food caddy and all our feelings go into that but I think I'll start making stock with them, I just give the veg a good wash before I peel them.
I love the name of your tabby, out fat black cat is called Dave.🐈
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Baby was going to be called princess originally but her name was changed to baby at the last minute after I had made a comment to her mother about having a baby not buying herself a kitten after I had seen all the stuff she had bought for the new arrival like for a new baby so I had said you would think you were having a baby not buying yourself a kitten so the new arrival was renamed baby!
One old Colleague of mine has a pure black cat and a tortie who are brother and sister.
Away for a few days with my fiance for Valentine's weekend like we had planned months ago as we decided we weren't changing our plans because of them!
In some ways I miss that job especially that most people were nice to me there but in other ways I feel the bullies did me a favour as their behaviour pushed me into making a move that was long overdue.
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Ah now that does make sense, I was thinking of 'don't put baby in the corner', I do love Dirty Dancing.
Our cat is definitely a big boy but as soft as putty.
Oh you can't change your plans and I hope you have a lovely weekend.
Sometimes good can come out of bad and I think we can get too comfortable and don't end up changing anything and get stuck in a rut so well done to you for making the move.
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One girl had asked me why had I called the cat baby and I had said how she had been renamed as baby at the last minute after I had made a comment to her mother about having a baby not buying herself a kitten so her name was changed to baby at the last minute and she had asked was baby someone else's cat and I explained how she is my niece as her mother is my sister in law!
Today we have visited some museums and had a walk round Swansea Marina before the rain started and had a drink at an Irish bar not celebrating rip off Valentine's and we bought our own food from the market today as we feel that the restaurants like to rip people off at Valentine's so we stay away from them on Valentine's night and there's lots of other chances to go out in my view.
Yes good can come out of bad and o have some more interviews lined up and one had said 24 February and we are away in Exeter that weekend and no way were we changing for them so told them no I couldn't go!
I have one next Tuesday at 11.20am, One the following Tuesday at 11am and one on the following Thursday at 11am. I thought to myself they wouldn't change things for me so why should I change for them?
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I think it's lovely calling a cat baby as we often refer to our cat as our baby, I think it's like this with a lot of pets and it's cute.
What a lovely day you had yesterday, something you wouldn't have been able to do today that's for sure. How lovely to have a drink in an Irish bar and totally agree that Valentine's Day is an absolute rip off as is Mothers and Fathers Day as well. A very good idea to buy your own food from a market and so much nicer than going round a supermarket buying it. There are loads more chances to go out i.e. on birthday, anniversaries etc.
Good can definitely come out of bad and I'm a great believer in that for sure. You cannot change a whole weekend that you've organised for an interview particularly as you have so many others lined up so well done to you for getting interviews, that can be the hardest part.
Thats so right Zest all we can do is be mindful of what we can do to save unnecessary waste.
Jerry. 😊
When I worked in a bakery there would be things left over as waste like pasties that hadn't sold and the line manager who had said how my folks had behaved like spoilt children over me staying with my friends and not them for a few days many years ago due to me having gone to a christening that Sunday would say to us that she had no problems with us taking home the spare food so very little was wasted under her as manager and one girl would take home cakes and give them to her dogs!
In another bakery the managers would take home leftovers and had no problems with staff doing the same. Her 2 dogs would get given leftover cakes as they were very spoilt like baby is!
When I worked in a catering department at a college they would waste food hand over fist which could easily have been reused and it was an absolute disgrace the amount that they threw out that could have been reused when there's so many in the world starving!
Hi Hidden this shows family bakery values work and it's shame the college wasnt more forward thinking. So a very good point. 😊
There is a place just beside my work, they will sell the unsold pastries from the day before at 50% less. I always choose those ones... They are very good!
And there is also the packaging that often makes me cringe. A few weeks ago, there is this cheese company who decided to lunch a "new product": Black Diamond Combo. It's a plastic plate with two cavities. In one you have a piece of cheddar and in the other one you have nuts. You can buy them in pack of 3.
I don't know if they will be popular, I hope not. Why buy those things when you can take a reusable plate to do one of your own? It's a big mystery for me!
To equate this down to calories per person is an interesting analagy and really brings it home. However good you are at limiting food waste I bet theres so much more you can do. Things like sauted Cauliflower leaves in butter with salt and pepper is just a simple idea but most of us. Me included often throw them away !
Hi Ali, there's a lot of difference in a few cauliflower leaves and the daily wanton waste outlined here. I actually really like cauliflower leaves cooked with the cauliflower.
To me the most important statistic is it that we are effectively feeding 4 people instead of 5 and throwing away enough to feed another person everyday...356 days of the year.
And this is wrong it is decadent when there are countries with people starving and without fresh drinking water.
Who can afford to throw away money like this ? If people would only add up how much in monetary terms they were throwing away weekly, monthly, yearly then attitudes might just change. No one seems to care about the problem with landfill and the supreme irony of family e in some parts of the world and this grotesque waste in the western world
Hi deejames I agree and if you've seen the tv program shop well for less you will see how some families don't think about when they eat what they are buying and it gets binned for the next weeks delivery.
Also supermarkets and the large fast food outlets waste food on an enormous scale.
Apart from the amount of unnecessary waste with us feeding 4 people and wasting enough for another, what concerns me is these statistics are from 2015 when we thought the waste was 214 calories and found that it is 527.
I chop and saute with a little oil and garlic beet stems for about 10 minutes, then add the leaves, also roughly chopped, and I get a very cheap delicious dish. Actually sometimes I even get the beet greens for free from stores or market stalls because people don't know how good and nutritious they are and the greens get thrown away.
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