Food Waste Action Week: Win. Don’t Bin
As we enter the first full week of March it heralds the return of Food Waste Action Week (6th – 12th March). The aim of the national campaign is to reduce food waste and promote a culture of saving time and money when it comes to food, meals and preparation.
Win. Don’t Bin
The “Win. Don’t Bin” strapline is used to promote the notion of using up every bit of food you use in order to prevent useful food from ending up in the bin. One of the key ways this is suggested is by using up leftovers or purposely making more with the intention of either freezing the leftovers or adding the leftovers to something else.
If you want to win and not bin over the course of this week (and hopefully continue to win for the foreseeable future) we would recommend the following actions:
1. Check Your Waste
Monitor how much food you and your family throw away, if you find you are throwing a lot of food out then check your portion sizes. Do some research into how much each of your family members need and use scales to help portion out ingredients to reduce what goes to waste.
2. Understand Date Meanings
“Use by” and “Best before” are two terms which are often confused as the meanings are similar. “Use by” relates to safety and means you should not eat after this date has lapsed even if the contents looks and smells fine. “Best before” however refers to quality and although the food may not be at its best quality after this date, it will still be safe to eat.
3. Plan Your Meals
Planning out your meals for the week is great for two reasons, firstly it gives a degree of organisation to your week meaning you save time. Secondly, it acts as a great starting point for your shopping list so you only end up buying what you need for your meals.
Commercial Food Waste Reduction
If you run a commercial kitchen which caters for a large menu and a high footfall, your food waste can be very high. Naturally food which comes back from service has to be disposed, but food which has been partially prepared or cooked in readiness can be stored in a way which prevents it from going to waste.
Actions we would suggest kitchens implement include the following:
- Gastronorm Storage – Perfect for storing large amounts of food in an easily accessible manner and allows chefs to keep raw and cooked food separate from one another.
- Mobile Ingredient Bins – Our polypropylene ingredients storage bins are a hygienic and useful way to store dry ingredients. They are devised to stack together to save space and also to provide a strategy that establishes a consistent rotation of product that will help reduce waste.
- Food Labelling – Food labelling options, especially shelf life labels are a great visual reminder for what produce should be used next, or when it should be used by.
- Glass Storage Jars – Preserve jars are a practical way of keeping ingredients fresh due to creating an air tight seal. Jars are great for storage, being see through allows for easy stock management and visually they look great too.
At Alliance Online we always aim to reduce our waste wherever possible and as such we feel a responsibility to highlight ways in which others can reduce their waste too. With Food Waste Action Week upon us take some time to view our product offering for options which could help you to reduce the food waste your kitchen produces.
