Food is the fuel of our lives, powering everything we do. It also brings our culture to life and creates lovely connections with those around us. What we eat is a cornerstone of our health, and can take us from being worn out and desperate for coffee to having that bit of extra energy to go for a walk with our loved ones at the end of the day. We constantly worry about whether we are feeding ourselves and our families the most nutritious food.
We sometimes do not realise that the way our food is produced costs our environment dearly and impacts the future of our children and our planet. So how do we walk the fine balance between eating what we need and making sure we can continue doing so for years and years to come? There are various ways to follow a diet which is both nutritious and sustainable. One that seems a no-brainer is to stop wasting food.
According to the World Wildlife Fund a third of all food produced is wasted globally. This waste accounts for around 23% of all polluting gases coming from food production. Bucks Council calculates that homes in our county produce at least 30,000 tonnes of food waste every year, enough to fill 250,000 wheelie bins; and two thirds of that food waste is edible!
What can we do at home to try to improve this situation? One clever solution is what volunteers of the Community Fridge movement are doing. They provide a hub where spare food from local individuals and businesses can be dropped off and shared with the community. Each ‘fridge’ has a day or two a week when local residents can turn up and get a bit of what is available. This helps reduce local waste at the same time as helping our pockets in these trying times. On top of that some of the Community Fridges offer cooking classes and advice on how to minimise food waste, as well as a listening ear for anyone who fancies a chat.
We are really lucky to have have a number of these volunteer led Community Fridges around us in Chesham (Weds & Sat 10-12), Prestwood (Wednesday, 9:30 – 11 and Saturdays, 9-10:30), High Wycombe (Monday and Thursday, 10-12) and Berkhamsted (Tuesday, 10-12).
And if you like high tech solutions, there are a number of apps out there that can also help us help the environment. One of them is Olio where local people offer their surplus food. We have used this in the past to offer leftover sandwiches from an event that were picked up by a lovely lady who organises playgroups. If what you want is to make use of local businesses’ surplus you should explore Too Good To Go and pocket one of their super-reduced, “Surprise Bags” from local places like the BP garage and Wenzels!
The project Love Food Hate Waste created by the WRAP Foundation has a bunch of great ideas on how to make use of leftover ingredients as well as info on good habits for saving food. I have just made my child some frozen banana and chocolate lollies which he is going to enjoy as an after school snack!
Why not try it yourselves as a family challenge? Go to your nearest Community Fridge at the weekend for some spare food and make a meal out of it! Share your BEFORE and AFTER pictures with us on Instagram @SustainableAmersham #littlegreenadventures_amersham
It is important to always keep in mind that there is only so much we can do at home. Supermarkets, farmers and our government have the final say on how damaging the food we eat is for our future. Write to your MP or to your local supermarket. Ask at your favourite bakery what they do with the food that is left over at the end of the day!
The most important thing to do is to stop and think. How much food goes to the bin at the end of the week? Can we try little things that can save us money while keeping all that lovely food from landfill? Every little thing that we do to tread a bit more lightly really counts!
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