Love Food, Hate Waste

Did you know that around a third of the food we buy ends up in the bin and most of this could have been eaten? I know this to be true, especially during the time when I was living by myself in a two-floor apartment some years ago. I had a medium-sized ref which I liked to stuff with meat and veggies and leftovers and beer every now and then. My philosophy then was to put the ref to good use instead of just having cold water sitting there!

Unfortunately, I spent long hours at work and outside the house that I usually eat out with friends for both lunch and dinner. So it was not surprising that I will always find successful batches of mold experiments in the ref! It would be a delight if I were a collector of such amazing creatures like Dr. Egon Spangler, but I wasn't. So a lot of stuff gets thrown away. Except the beer, of course.

Times have changed since then. I moved to a much smaller place my molds experiment days were over. These days, my wife cooks wonderful meals for us and I no longer mind repeat meals so being more conscious of our food wasteage has really become part of our daily routine.

But enough about me. What I would like to share is this wonderful website called Love Food, Hate Waste. It's based in the UK but its principles are applicable pretty much anywhere else! In a nutshell, the site aims to help its visitors plan much better in food purchasing decisions, thereby minimizing wasteage and saving money at the same time.



This well thought-out site offers the following main courses:
Perfect portions - the best place to start in reducing (or possibly eliminating) cooking too much is in the portions we use. This section gives useful advise on how much rice to cook for a person and how much a tablespoonful is good for, among others.
Save time & money - who wouldn't want to?! This section gives useful tips on planning meals spanning two weeks, essential ingredients you can always use for a variety of yummy dishes, and taking note of expiration dates.
Recipes - delicious meals from leftovers! Is it possible? Now it is!
Top tips - how to prolong the life of your food.
About Food Waste - information about the group behind this site can be found here, and why reducing our food waste matters.
Add your voice - be heard! (or read!)

If you find yourself throwing lots of foodstuff into the bin, it's just like throwing money. Come to think of it, I think it will be great to imagine the food we are throwing to be coins and paper bills! And to save money, head on to this site and start saving.

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