The British Government this week has urged all of it’s citizens to start practicing frugality and to stop wasting food. The last time they did was during World War II. I frankly think it’s a brilliant idea. The amount of food that Britons are throwing away is staggering, the average household throws 420 pounds of food away and over 610 pounds for those with kids. They could be describing Charlie’s aunt who is British. When we go over for dinner we are constantly amazed with the amounts of food she throws out. We asked her once why she throws out so much and it’s because she doesn’t like leftovers. We also have another British friend who has a two day rule. If it’s over two days old it gets thrown out even when there is nothing wrong with it. How wasteful AND expensive! It’s not just the British though, Americans and Australians are just as wasteful! They should urge their respective residents not to waste either.

I absolutely HATE wasting food. It’s a pet peeve of mine. I think it’s because my Dad grew up with 9 brothers and sister on a cotton farm so he was taught not to waste anything. I’ve happily followed in his foot steps. Unlike Charlie’s aunt, Charlie and I don’t mind leftovers. It’s cheaper to cook bulk meals and it’s really convenient to have something in the freezer when you don’t feel like cooking. We’re pretty good about not wasting food but sometimes some of the veggies in our crisper will be forgotten. This is why I recently set up a Veggie List on the fridge to keep track of what’s in the crisper. It’s like keeping inventory :) Since starting this method we haven’t wasted a thing!

Tips to Prevent Food Wastage

• Write a menu for the week
• Don’t buy more fresh veggies than you can eat in a week
• Buy frozen vegetables instead of fresh
• To keep track of the contents in your fridge, make a list and put it on your fridge
• Cook bulk meals and freeze the leftovers
• If you get bored of leftovers spruce them up
• Make a soup with your leftover veggies

Do you have any tips to prevent wasting food?