Food Waste Action Week
This year we are supporting Love Food Hate Waste’s Food Waste Action Week campaign.
Do you ever buy big packs of fruit and veg and then end up throwing some of the pack away? If you do, then you’re not alone. Every year in the UK we throw away 1.7 million tonnes of fruit and veg. We buy too much and then don’t get around to eating it in time. Isn’t that ridiculous?
Research from our friends at Love Food Hate Waste has shown that if all apples, bananas and potatoes were sold loose, 8.2 million shopping baskets worth of food waste could be prevented every year. And that’s simply because when fruit and veg is sold loose, you can buy the amount that you need and will use.
Buying your fruit and veg loose also means that you can choose the quality that you prefer too – a slightly greener banana, one rosy, red apple or the perfect potatoes for jackets!
So, why not give it a try? Buy Loose, Waste Less.
Our Top Tips to help you buy loose
Planning
Plan your meals so you know how much fruit or vegetables you need - so when you get to the shop, it is easier to make that choice to buy loose! Try Love Food Hate Waste’s Portion Calculator to help work out what you need!
Take a separate bag
You may wish to take a separate bag to put your loose fruit and vegetables in - that way they are protected from your other items and any dirt is contained to one bag.
Embrace maths!
Remember converting kg to grams at school? Well use those skills when you're at the shop to price compare a bag of carrots to loose per kg - you may well be surprised that it can often be cheaper to buy loose!
Storage
When you get home from the shops, remember to store your fruit and vegetables correctly so they last as long as possible. Visit our storage page for top tips!
Greengrocers
Try your local greengrocer if there is one near you - they sell most of their fruit and vegetables loose - making it easy to choose what you’ll use!
Food Savvy recipe suggestions for your fruit & veg……
Vegetable curry
Ratatouille
Leftover chicken pie
Plum crunch
Apple & ginger cake
We know that buying fruit and veg loose is a great way to prevent over buying and avoid food going to waste.
If you are interested in finding out more about why buying loose is so important and what you can do about it head over to Love Food Hate Waste and answer a few questions in their quiz to get tailored information for you.
Find out more at lovefoodhatewaste.com
