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How much food do you waste?

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 EeeByGum 10 Jan 2013
Apparently half of all food is wasted in the world. I hate chucking out food and generally, we are pretty good. We plan meals and freeze leftovers, but there is always something that ends up festering in the back of the fridge.

How do you fair?
michaelc 10 Jan 2013
In reply to EeeByGum:
All of it (yes I have low self esteem)
 dale1968 10 Jan 2013
In reply to EeeByGum: non, there's always the dog/rabbit/chickens/ducks, which in turn could be eaten if required....
 SAF 10 Jan 2013
In reply to EeeByGum: I'm pretty bad, my life is so hectic and disorganised that when I try to plan ahead and bulk buy/ buy ingrediants to make my own stuff later in the week, my plans frequently change and stuff gets thrown out.... I find I have to buy as I go, which cost a bit more in the short-term but probably works out the same in the longterm. I do try and do a big cook now and then and stock up the freezer with bolagnase sauce, casserole etc.

Eggs are probably my worst thing for throwing out, buy a box eat one or two, forget about them and bin the rest further down the line!!!
In reply to EeeByGum: I don't waste any. All my leftovers go in the back garden where there's always plenty creatures that'll eat it, birds, cats, squirrels, mice, slugs, frogs etc.
 owlart 10 Jan 2013
In reply to EeeByGum: I'm generally quite good at only buying what I need and not throwing stuff away, although occasionally I'll end up throwing bread away that's gone green before I've finished the loaf, or a few veg that have gone squishy. I have sometimes had to throw food away when I've forgotten about it at the back of the fridge though.
 owlart 10 Jan 2013
In reply to SAF:
> Eggs are probably my worst thing for throwing out, buy a box eat one or two, forget about them and bin the rest further down the line!!!

How much further 'down the line' do you throw them away? I've kept eggs for months past the date on them and still used them happily!
 tlm 10 Jan 2013
In reply to EeeByGum:

None. We buy what we need, we cook what we need and then we eat it all. but it is easier with only 2 people, I am sure.
 gethin_allen 10 Jan 2013
In reply to EeeByGum:
I used to be quite bad but since the GF moved in meals are more organised and things get eaten before they go off. Fruit used to be a bad one for me as it's really tempting when it's at its best but once it goes a bit beyond that I'm less interested. I know I shouldn't be so picky and this is clearly demonstrated when I've be to eastern Europe on holiday and noticed that the fruit in the shops and markets is far less perfect than that in UK shops and people just don't care.
 tlm 10 Jan 2013
In reply to EeeByGum:

Mind you - we slice our bread, freeze it and take slices out as we need them. We only eat frozen meat generally and defrost it as we need it. We eat lots of fruit and veg - so much that it never gets the chance to go off.
OP EeeByGum 10 Jan 2013
In reply to Rylstone_Cowboy:
> (In reply to EeeByGum) I don't waste any. All my leftovers go in the back garden where there's always plenty creatures that'll eat it, birds, cats, squirrels, mice, slugs, frogs etc.

Could you not argue that all food waste is eaten by worms, microbes and bacteria? I would have said that was wasted food.
 Chris Craggs Global Crag Moderator 10 Jan 2013
In reply to EeeByGum:
> Apparently half of all food is wasted in the world.

Or between 30-50% further into the report.


Chris
OP EeeByGum 10 Jan 2013
In reply to Chris Craggs: I must admit, the headline as ever is more compelling than the actual report. That said, even 30% waste is pretty dire.
ice.solo 10 Jan 2013
In reply to EeeByGum:

Id say about 5% of what we buy.

We live beside a supermarket so shop fresh, often twice a day.
Some of the waste is stuff we stocked up on cheap but didnt get thru.
In reply to EeeByGum: We do pretty well. Most stews, curries and the like are cooked twice the size we need with the balance going in the freezer for meals when we're too knackered to cook of an evening. That and careful shopping (don't do it when you're hungry) means waste is minimal.

T.
 cuppatea 10 Jan 2013
In reply to EeeByGum:

Very little. I like to cook in bulk and portions go into the freezer.

Leftovers/peel etc are taken care of via Dog, wormeries and three compost bins.
In reply to EeeByGum: More than I would like but as a family of 5 food doesnt stay around long enough mostly.

For those of you whom waste eggs, scandalous!!!
 KellyKettle 10 Jan 2013
In reply to EeeByGum: Very little finished food gets wasted, but i do have issues with perishable ingredients.

I invariably find a dessicated quarter pot of double cream, or a few festering carrots in the back of the fridge, because I was slower than anticipated in using them.
 graeme jackson 10 Jan 2013
In reply to EeeByGum:
I don't waste any food. That's why I'm a fat bastard
 hokkyokusei 10 Jan 2013
In reply to EeeByGum:

I'm pretty good, I think. I don't buy much at once (other than tinned and dried goods), and I'm not one that throws things out just because of a date printed on them. If stuff goes mouldy I'd rather scrape teh mould off then throw away the whole thing. Though I must admit that I threw away four crumpets this mroning as once I had scraped the mould off they weren't really up to the toaster. In my defence they had been put in the wrong cupboard when I moved house a month ago and I'd forgotten I had them.

 Ava Adore 10 Jan 2013
In reply to EeeByGum:

I try desperately hard NOT to waste food but it's not always easy when living on your own. Bread is the hardest. I don't like frozen bread defroested for sandwiches but can never use a whole fresh loaf. The half loaves they do nowadays do make things easier.

I eat a lot of fresh fruit and veg so go shopping every couple of days or so to avoid buying so much that it ends up going past its best.
 Ava Adore 10 Jan 2013
In reply to EeeByGum:

The thing I struggle with is when I'm given food as presents - generally sweets and chocolate. I don't eat a lot of either (although I love the gesture and a little of both is always nice). Although it doesn't go off very quickly, I don't want to be tempted to over-indulge by having it in the house, so I will donate the remnants to the willing hordes at work.
 mlt 10 Jan 2013
In reply to EeeByGum:

I do waste food, but I think I'm better than others I've seen. Over the past few years I sort of made a habit of eating/using food that is pretty much beginning to rot. I think it makes the stomach and immune system stronger!
In reply to Ava Adore:
> (In reply to EeeByGum)
>
> The thing I struggle with is when I'm given food as presents - generally sweets and chocolate. I don't eat a lot of either (although I love the gesture and a little of both is always nice). Although it doesn't go off very quickly, I don't want to be tempted to over-indulge by having it in the house, so I will donate the remnants to the willing hordes at work.

Then you arent wasting, just spreading the love.

 rallymania 10 Jan 2013
In reply to EeeByGum:

not to bad since i had a recent re-think on my eating habits

also edinburgh (like many places i'm sure) has started kerbside food recycling with the waste going to the new plant in cumbernauld to create fertilizer and biogas.

which reminds me, i really need to make that leek and potato soup before the leeks go off
 Ava Adore 10 Jan 2013
In reply to TheDrunkenBakers:

I actually feel a little guilty about it sometimes. I'm just bringing my temptation to others and letting them deal with it.
 Paul Robertson 10 Jan 2013
In reply to EeeByGum:
Composting your unwanted/gone-off food is still wasting it. You still create a demand by buying it in the first place.
I'm not saying that composting waste is as bad as binning it but if we all composted all our waste it wouldn't really solve the problem.

Same goes for 'eating-up' food which you don't really need or want, just so that it doesn't go to waste.
Removed User 10 Jan 2013
In reply to EeeByGum:

I'm about average.

I did think I didn't throw away much at all but since I started to take notice I often find I've thrown away about 30% of what I've bought for one reason or another.

I'm much better about alcohol though. Almost nothing gets wasted.
 Philip 10 Jan 2013
So far this year I have thrown out half a lettuce I bought for salad on new year's day and haven't had use of since.

The largest amount of food thrown out is by producers and then supermarkets. Those figures for waste include crops harvested and rejected at the processing stage, eg mouldy or damaged veg.
OP EeeByGum 10 Jan 2013
In reply to Philip:

> The largest amount of food thrown out is by producers and then supermarkets. Those figures for waste include crops harvested and rejected at the processing stage, eg mouldy or damaged veg.

Agreed - but also a lot of veg is binned because it is the wrong shape which is quite frankly absurd.
Removed User 10 Jan 2013
In reply to EeeByGum:

Personally, the amount of food that I waste in a month would fit onto a small saucer.

As a family, we waste enough to feed at least another 1 person. Especially annoying when I've made the effort to prepare something fresh and nutritious - my kids seem to prefer processed/ frozen crap.

But I was probably just the same at that age.
 Brev 10 Jan 2013
In reply to EeeByGum:

I'd like to think that I waste less food than the average person (or less than my parents anyway), but it's still too much, just a lot of little things that add up: the 2 end-slices of a loaf of bread, a quarter of a pint of milk that's gone off, half a tub of cream, a few bits of salad, and so on. Left over cooked food is generally used as next day's lunch/dinner though.
 Bimble 10 Jan 2013
In reply to EeeByGum:

I waste hardly anything. Veg peelings & other uncooked scraps go into the compost to be used to grow more veg. Pretty much all cooked leftovers are used up in stews at some point each week, and carcases tend to be picked clean of all the tiny little scraps by the hound. I also try to prepare and cook the right amount so there's not tons left over afterwards.
Fair enough, I don't eat bread crusts, but they do get torn up into little bits & put out for the birds (with a good soaking of grill-pan fat when I can).
 JJL 10 Jan 2013
In reply to EeeByGum:

All of it.

Actuually very very little. It used to be a lot, but Ocado has transformed that by requiring me to write a set of recipes for the week. I cook to the recipes and leave Sunday as leftovers night (or a takeaway if the cupboard is bare). Almost nothing goes in the bin.

The worst way to shop is running round the supermarket on a Friday evening after work when you're starving and with no plan. The trolley magically fills with high-margin, short-life crap.
OP EeeByGum 10 Jan 2013
In reply to JJL:

> The worst way to shop is running round the supermarket on a Friday evening after work when you're starving and with no plan. The trolley magically fills with high-margin, short-life crap.

Agreed. This is why we walk around the supermarket on a Monday evening with a list... but still starving hungry!
 Liam M 10 Jan 2013
In reply to EeeByGum: At mine, probably a reasonably high proportion, though low in absolute volume. I only spend about one or two nights a week there, and none of the supermarkets locally seem to sell certain things in small enough portions. Salads and veg are only sold in large multipacks, or bigger varieties. Milk and other short life dairy is similarly rare in small quantities.

I'd freeze it for later use, but that falls down if you're not there the day before to defrost it. I'd happily pay a small premium to get food in smaller quantities or sizes, but nowhere seems to want to take on this idea on favour of catering volumes, so invariably some goes to waste.
 Bloodfire 10 Jan 2013
In reply to EeeByGum: Hardly any. We don't buy junk, or stuff we 'might' eat. We tupper, freeze etc too. I don't compost as yet but want to start as there are things that do go furry before I can get to them!
 cuppatea 10 Jan 2013
In reply to EeeByGum:

Making compost out of veg peel, newspapers, egg shells, cardboard etc. isn't a waste.

It produces compost, and in the wormery it produces very very rich soil stuff and magical liquid plant feed, and shed loads of worms for fishing bait/soil improving

Anerobic composting in landfills releases methane, and as we know this creates global warming
 ranger*goy 10 Jan 2013
In reply to EeeByGum:

Throw out very little.

I can never seem to use a whole pot of double cream before it goes off. I cant really think of anything else that though.

Any food scraps go to the chickens.
In reply to EeeByGum:

Top tip of the day.

Dont ever, ever throw away the chicken carcass. Stick this in a pot full of water, any left veggies, 1 onion, 1 stick celery, 1 carrot and boil with a little salt and pepper. 2-4 hours later strain and use from the fridge within 2 days or freeze.

Next time you do a roast, stick the frozen block of stock back into the pan from which the new bird emerged when you are resting it and, hey presto, fabulous gravy.

Rinse and repeat.
redsonja 10 Jan 2013
In reply to EeeByGum: i never waste anything. my friend works at tesco and he sys the amount of food they throw away is sickening- and only because it is due to go out of date. its disgusting, there are people in the world starving coz they havent got a bit of bread to put in to their mouths
 birdie num num 10 Jan 2013
In reply to EeeByGum:
Mrs. Num Num wastes none, she scoffs the lot. In fact, When she's finished, sometimes she eats the spoon.
 climb the peak 10 Jan 2013
In reply to EeeByGum: I waste hardly any food, but that's probably because I'm so hungry all the time and eat so much.
I guess a lot of the wasted food will come from supermarkets throwing away out of date food.
 cat88 10 Jan 2013
In reply to heidi123: Im that person that goes to the shop half an hour before close and buys the stuff they need to get rid of that day for half the price!
I also buy my meat in 10kg deliveries and freeze it so I can just get out what I need, cheaper and better quality than supermarket meat.
Stale bread or cakey things growing green stuff go out in the garden for birds / cats
 Brass Nipples 10 Jan 2013
In reply to heidi123:
> (In reply to EeeByGum) i never waste anything. my friend works at tesco and he sys the amount of food they throw away is sickening- and only because it is due to go out of date. its disgusting, there are people in the world starving coz they havent got a bit of bread to put in to their mouths

But isn't that because they have poor harvesting techniques, poor storage, poor transport, lack of access to refrigeration , no pesticides or organic equivalents, poor equipment etc. etc. etc.

Most of 30-50% is in developing world countries.

Tesco's waste is below 2%. Far better than most here.
In reply to A Game of Chance:
> Tesco's waste is below 2%. Far better than most here.

They also lock their bins. They can't sell it, NOBODY CAN EAT IT

 Bimble 11 Jan 2013
In reply to willworkforfoodjnr:
> (In reply to A Game of Chance)
> [...]
>
> They also lock their bins. They can't sell it, NOBODY CAN EAT IT

Many moons ago when I worked for Asda, all food that was going out of date was put into a compactor & squished into a block. I tried to persuade them that chucking out nearly £1000's worth of fresh fruit & veg on xmas eve was a travesty when it didn't go out of date until boxing day (we were shut xmas day & boxing day), and that a local homeless shelter was willing to accept it for xmas dinners. I was point-blank refused, from store management up to head office, told it was 'company policy' and that if it wasn't put into the compactor, whoever removed it from the site to feed to people would be done for theft.
redsonja 11 Jan 2013
In reply to TryfAndy: this is what my friend was told. this is why they have locks on their bins and also CCTV cameras pointing at the bins. crazy
 Carolyn 11 Jan 2013
In reply to EeeByGum:

Not much. It helps that I don't much care about sell by dates - I frequently buy stuff that's reduced because it's reached its sell by date, and it's absolutely fine a day or two later. Or it's stuck in the freezer and eaten a few weeks later.

Sometimes the end of a pot of cream, or remains of a random veg that got hidden in the bottom of the fridge.
 Ed Navigante 11 Jan 2013
In reply to EeeByGum:

None/negative if you count skip diving now and again

If i've paid for it I'm going to eat it

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