The council share this latest news. Ed
It is likely that your Christmas turkey, will be gobbled up but there is probably going to be a fair bit of food waste in your household after 25th December.
The Isle of Wight Council, in partnership with Amey, is helping residents to love food and hate waste this festive period, by making the most of leftover food instead of binning it.
Love food, hate waste roadshow
Amey is teaming up with Island based professional chef Rachel Brown to take its education trailer on the road in the run up to the festive period and demonstrate recipes using traditional festive leftovers.
The Christmas Food Roadshow will be at St Thomas Square, Newport, between 11am and 4pm on the 7 and 10 December.
It will then roll on to the Cowes Yacht Haven for the Cowes Christmas Festival on 17 and 18 December.
Recipes on show will include how you can use leftover turkey, sausages, bacon, apples and even Christmas pudding.
Food waste costs families £700 pa
Executive member for environment and local engagement, Councillor Paul Fuller, said
”Food waste costs the average person £200 a year and the average family a whopping £700 a year. By learning to love your leftovers, being more aware of how to store food and understanding food labelling better, it can make a real difference to your pocket.
“This time of year puts a strain on everyone’s bank balance, so I’m sure the Christmas Food Roadshow and chef Rachel Brown will help you to make the most of your leftovers and you can pick up your free recipe card at the same time.”
15% of landfill waste was food waste
Paul Southall, account director for Amey on the Isle of Wight, added:
“We all think of recycling as re-using materials such as plastics or metals, but re-using leftovers is a form of recycling in itself.
“We thought it would be a bit different to take our education trailer out and show people how they can use leftovers by demonstrating a few recipes and giving people a chance to sample the food and is something we’re looking forward to.”
The last study into what our Island waste is made up of found that an average 15 per cent of black bag waste was food waste that could have been avoided.
Fighting Food Waste
We all know that the amount of food waste thrown away increases at this time of year but we can all minimise this with meal planning, portioning, savvy storage , loving our leftovers and saving ourselves money at the same time – by being food savvy, the average family can save up to £700 per year. Here are some simple tips for making your food last longer and getting to the bottom of those food display until dates.
Top Tips
- Keep vegetables and fruits in the bag they came in as this makes them last longer.
- Those Christmas cheese and biscuit nibbles keep longer in a re-sealable bag or in a tub.
Ditching by the display until date?
- Food past its ‘display until’ date is fine to use as this date is only for shop staff.
- ‘Best before’ dates are only a guide and the food is still OK to eat after this date.
- Only food past its ‘use by’ date should not be used.
Perplexed by packaging?
A lot of food packaging can also be recycled in your green bin or green gull proof sack, such as:
- the plastic wrapping often used to cover food such as chicken or turkey
- plastic food tubs
- foil used to cover butter
- clean tin foil
- Pringles tubes
- drinks cartons
The Love Food Hate Waste Website features a wide range of recipes, advice, guidance and tips for helping to reduce food waste and reduce the amount you spend.
