One of the best things about planning your meals is that you’ll waste less food – which is so important for the planet and our wallets! Get some tips from the Love Food Hate Waste campaign
New data suggests 8.2 million shopping baskets of fruit and vegetables are wasted every year in our homes, because we’ve bought more than we can use in time.
A new report published by Love Food Hate Waste shows that 65 per cent of shoppers would like to buy more loose fruit and veg if more were offered for sale.
By choosing what we will actually use, we could save money by avoiding costly wasted food, prevent 60,000 tonnes of food waste and reduce plastic packaging by 8,800 tonnes per year. Combined, this saves more than 80,000 tonnes CO2e.
Here are some simple ideas to ensure your food shopping doesn’t end up in the bin
Check your fridge, freezer and cupboards before doing your shopping
What do you have already that needs using up? Perhaps you’ve already got a couple of carrots left and just need one or two more for the recipe you have in mind, or you’d forgotten you have a few spuds left from your weekend roast.
Write a flexible meal plan for the week
Factoring in what you have already, take a few minutes to write a flexible meal plan to cover the whole week ahead.
Make a list of what you’ll need
Now that you know what you’re planning to cook, you’ll know what ingredients you need. You can come up with a list of the total portions of fruit and veg you’ll need for the week using the portion calculator at lovefoodhatewaste.com.
Stick to the list
When yo
