April 26 is Stop Food Waste Day
It’s a global effort to help people learn just how much good food really does go to waste. We’re all aware that there is a problem with food wastage, of course, but the actual numbers will probably shock you liked they shocked us. It’s why we do what we do at Good & Fugly —and why so many people have joined us on the journey.
This year, we’re working with Vitamix and the amazing Instagram star, @hannahhclare to showcase just how creative you can get when using leftovers or unconventional ingredients.
How much do you need to throw out? Almost nothing! A bit of creative thinking can make a lot of impact, so check out Hannah’s Instagram and get inspired.
Here are five other things you can do right now to fight food waste in your world:
1. Shop smart:
Make a list and only shop for what you need. Meal planning is a great way to have healthy meals and use what you buy.
2. Storage:
Did you know potatoes should be kept at room temperature? Or that bananas release ethene and ripen other produce? A clever storage tweak can help keep produce fresh longer.
3. Use what you've got:
Soft apples are great stewed, wilted veggies are yum in soups, not to mention pickling, drying, preserving and freezing.
4. Compost:
A backyard worm farm is a great way to turn food waste into fertiliser and keep veggie scraps out of landfill.
5. Choose Fuglies:
Buy imperfect produce at the market, grocery store, from your local farmer or Good & Fugly to help prevent so much food from going to waste.
Of course, while reducing the amount of food you personally waste is an important step, there’s so much else that we as a society needs to come together to solve. Stop Food Waste Day is an effort to address it all, and you can do your part by understanding what causes so much food to go to waste from the farm to your refrigerator.
Food gets tossed because it’s not “pretty enough.” As much as 25 per cent of produce never even gets to the home because of supermarket cosmetic standards. Addressing this was why Good & Fugly was established in the first place, and by buying our boxes, you’ll be helping to stop this perfect good and delicious fresh produce being left to rot.
A lot of food gets lost in transport and at retail. The logistics around the food industry are enormously complex, but lead to too much food being lost to waste (particularly with produce that has a short “shelf life”). We need to find ways to more efficiently transport and store food. If you can find a way to use food that has been “marked to clear”, then consider purchasing that over food that isn’t close to the use-by date. This reduces the amount that will be tossed at the end of the day.
Make use of every edible part of every ingredient. Too often edible parts of produce are discarded for being too difficult to work with, or people being unaware of how they can be used. Go on a hunt for recipes and broaden the range of what you can cook. Not only will the dinner table be more exciting, but you’ll be minimising food that goes to waste in this way too.
