Horrifyingly, around a third of the food that’s produced for human consumption is wasted. When around 690 million people – or around 8.9% of the world’s population – go to bed hungry every night, this is hard to stomach. Not only that, but food takes massive amounts of fresh water, land, and labor to produce. Our food system has a huge environmental impact.  

There’s no question that things need to change. It’s not a quick fix – and governments, companies, organizations, and each one of us need to come together to take action. 

 

Could we do better?

We’ve all thrown out spoiled food or leftovers – some more than others. It’s worth being more mindful of the food we buy and eat. 

Here are a few pointers to help cut waste in your kitchen:

  • Plan your food. Make a plan before you shop, including how you’re going to use any leftovers.  
  • Learn to preserve, pickle, dry, can, freeze and cure, so you can save and use leftovers and surplus food. 
  • Compost your leftovers if you have a garden. 
  • Check the use-by dates of fresh food to make sure you’ll be able to eat it before it spoils. 
  • Choose wonky fruit and veg: millions of tonnes are thrown away each year before they even reach our shelves, deemed too ‘ugly’ to eat.  
  • Store your food properly so it stays edible for longer. 

We can – and must – all do our bit. If you’re not sure what to do with your leftovers and past-its-best fruit and veg, this A-Z list will give you some great ideas to get you started.