What would you do with an extra €700?

Have a think about it for a minute, and when you’re done daydreaming, consider the fact that we’re all throwing that much money in the bin every year, in food waste.

According to the EPA Stop Food Waste Programme, €700 is the magic sum, and there are very few of us who can afford to wave goodbye to that money!

Safefood has launched the second phase of its campaign urging people to check the use by dates on food and to “eat or freeze it” before the date is up.

You may be tempted to eat food past its use by date but food should be eaten or frozen before then as it’s no longer safe to eat.

One way of finding out how much food you throw out is to keep a note of what food goes into the bin for one week. You might be surprised at how much it really is. The safefoodwebsite, www.safefood.eu, has a food waste diary available for download that can help.

By making small changes and becoming more aware of better planning, shopping, storage and use by dates you can prevent wasting food and get the most out of your weekly shop. Here are six top tips from safefood to make sure you’re not throwing away a small fortune…

• Eat or freeze food before its “use by” date

• If shopping for the week, check your fridge, freezer and cupboards before you shop and try to plan meals around what you find

• Make a shopping list and try to stick to it

• Watch out on ‘special deals’ or bulk buying – they are not good for fruit, veg and salads (or anything that can go off quickly)

• When shopping, check the back of shelves – you’ll often find use by dates that are further away

• Shop for what you actually eat, not for what you want/wish you would eat 

 

For more info, see www.safefood.eu