It is estimated that we throw away around 9.5 million tonnes of food waste in the UK in just a single year. And even though 8.4 million people in the UK live in food poverty, over 1/3 of the food that is produced around the world goes to waste. 

… over 1/3 of the food that is produced around the world goes to waste

It is clear to see that we are living in a time where even though we have a climate problem and more and more people are living in poverty (the cost-of-living crisis not helping), many people are still throwing away tonnes of waste each year, when some of it could most likely go to good use.  

Best before dates have been scrapped by many supermarkets such as Asda and Waitrose, to help reduce food waste. Fresh fruit and veg in the past would have best before dates on them, which were just advisory dates to when that food item would not be at its best quality to eat, they were not about the product’s safety. Yet, many of us would rely on this best before date to tell us when we could no longer eat that product, resulting in food waste. By scrapping these dates, people are encouraged to make their own judgments as to when food is no longer edible, looking at its texture, smell and appearance. 

Best before dates have been scrapped by many supermarkets such as Asda and Waitrose

However, Waste & Resources Action Programme (Wrap) say that the average family throws away £60 worth of food and drink each month. And at certain times of the year, this figure is likely to be a lot higher. Over Halloween and Christmas, many of us buy special treats specified to the season such as Halloween decorated cakes and Christmas chocolate, but because of the mass amount that people buy each year, not all of it gets eaten. What’s more, is that supermarkets have so much seasonal produce that it ends up having to be thrown away. 

One of the products that has a scary amount of food waste is pumpkins. 39.9 million pumpkins will be bought over the Halloween period, of which 22.2. million pumpkins will go to waste, left uneaten. This equates to £32.6 million worth of edible food. And sadly, because we mainly use pumpkins for decorations after we’ve carved them, these statistics are very much reality. 

But pumpkins can be made into a variety of delicious meals, such as soup, risotto, pie, curry and cake! Hubub has a page full of intriguing recipes you can make to put the flesh of your left-over pumpkins to good use. You can roast the seeds to use as a garnish, or use the flesh to make a puree or pumpkin pie, or leave the skin on the pumpkin and roast it, to add to salads. There are plenty of ways to use food in multiple ways to avoid throwing it in the bin.

… the average family throws away £60 worth of food and drink each month

With Christmas coming round the corner as quick as ever, we need to remain vigilant with how much food we are buying, our uses for it and trying to avoid any food waste. Many families and students may be struggling more than usual with finances due to rising food prices and energy bills; making full use out of the products you buy will help ensure you don’t contribute to the mass of food waste in landfill and means you can buy less food after Christmas by making your products last longer.

Here are some Top Tips to reduce food waste over the seasonal periods:

1. Plan what food you need for meals, snacks and social gatherings – it can be very hard to plan food over Christmas but even just making a list of the essentials and what extra’s you could benefit from will help you avoid temptation in store, especially when many treats can have special offers on. Special offers will often make you buy these products even though you won’t ever end up eating them.

2. Try not to over-buy – it might seem tempting to buy everything on the shelf but we all know that half of it will be forgotten. Only buy what you know you will eat and try and eat those products before you buy new one’s.

3. Don’t cook it all – just because you’ve brought more than you need, it doesn’t mean you need to cook it all, especially on Christmas day when people will be stuffed from chocolate anyway. Keep some of it in the freezer and if you do use the products still, just pop the leftovers into freezer bags to use it in the new year.

4. Make the most of having a freezer – so many items can be frozen so make use of wrapping your left-overs up and popping it into any empty space you have in your freezer.

5. Donate to food banks – if you are given mounds of chocolate and sweets that you know you won’t be able to chomp through, you can send them to your local food bank. Also, any long-lasting products that you bought but now have no use for, food banks would greatly appreciate.

6. Pass on any baked goods or left-over Christmas dinner to your neighbours – you can guarantee that it’ll put a smile on their face and it’ll take the food off your hands too.

7. Use your leftovers to create new recipes – simply throw a mixture of items together to experiment with new meals or find a way to combine certain products; you might be surprised what tasteful dishes you end up curating.

8. Compost your food waste – if you have pieces of carrot and potato peel, for example, simply compost it in your garden with some soil.  

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Thinking more about the festive period? Take a look at these other Food&Drink articles:

Recipe: Christmas Cake 

Recipe: Pumpkin Risotto

Quality Street are scrapping their plastic wrappers