FOOD

What’s the problem?

If you've been wondering how to make a difference to the planet, food is a great place to start! 

 The industrial farming methods we use today make a significant contribution to global warming, animal cruelty and soil erosion. Large tracts of the world’s natural habitats have been repurposed for livestock grazing and the growing of animal feed. These habitats were previously responsible for taking carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and storing it. Once destroyed, they can no longer do that job. In fact, 26% of global CO2 emissions are related to food and in Europe, 83% of CO2 emissions related to food come from dairy, meat and eggs.

 

What can I do?

Changing our eating and shopping habits can be creative, fun and easy to share with others...

Shift to plant based

  • Increase the number of plant-based meals you have and reduce the meat, fish and eggs that you eat. Maybe aim for one or two meat- and fish-free days a week as a start. The documentaries Cowspiracy and Seaspiracy are a good introduction to the issues associated with modern-day industrialised farming and fishing practices, which have a massive impact on both climate change and biodiversity

Swap to non-dairy alternatives

  • Plant based milks (soy, oats and nuts) produce less than half the emissions of dairy milk, while using vegetable spreads results in five times lower emissions than butter. Cheese produces around 16 times its own weight in greenhouse gas emissions and there are a growing number of  plant-based alternatives now in supermarkets

Grow your own

  • Plant your own fruit and vegetables or join a community-based growing project. If you do this already, share your knowledge and support others. Post ideas on our social media: Sustainable South West Herts on Facebook, @sustainable3r on Insta and @Sustainable3R on Twitter

Minimise food waste

  • Aim to use up leftovers and share food you can’t use with friends, neighbours, charities and food banks. Or use a food-waste app, as reviewed in this Marie Claire article. Random Cafe in Watford helps local residents reduce food waste and campaigns to make our food system fairer and more sustainable.

Get creative in the kitchen

  • Experiment with fresh food and use odd bits of vegetables to make stock, wholesome soups or add to your compost heap. Share your recipes on our social media: Sustainable South West Herts on Facebook, @sustainable3r on Insta and @Sustainable3R on Twitter

Shop local, shop ethical

  • Most ethical retailers work to minimise their plastic use and transport emissions, as well as choose suppliers that respect the planet’s natural resources and workers’ rights. Check out Ethical Consumer magazine for more information. And see our Local Groups and Businesses page for nearby ethical retailers

Tips To Reduce Your Food Waste

Our planet has limited natural resources, which we are currently using at an unsustainable rate. If everyone on the planet lived and consumed as we do in the UK, we would need 2.8 Earths. We are living beyond what is sustainable for our earth to cope with! 

We only have one home! We can all reduce our consumption to help protect our planet, for ourselves and our future generations.


Reducing Our Food Consumption and What We Put In The Bin!


You may be surprised to learn that the average family could save up to £700 per year by cutting food waste. 1/3 of all food goes to waste; that’s enough food to feed everyone on the planet. Let’s work together to cut food waste now! It’s easy to make a few small changes and reduce the amount we are throwing away....


Here are some tips to help you make the most of the food you buy, saving you money and helping our planet:

  • Checking your fridge and cupboard before going shopping ,and planning your meals in advance, can help you to only buy the food you know you will eat.

  • Try to shop locally, and reduce your trips to large supermarkets. Astonishingly, the average person in the UK makes 221 trips to the supermarket every year! (Ethical Consumer).

  • Try to buy fresh ingredients for tasty, home-cooked meals, rather than buying ultra- processed packaged food.  Not only is this far healthier, but it generally lasts longer as well and gives you more options for using up any leftovers.

  • Buy wonky/less than perfect fruit and veg rather than the much more expensive ‘perfect’ sort. Much cheaper and tastes just as good!

  • Avoid special offers - It's not a bargain if it ends up in the bin! They can be a disaster in terms of food waste as well as for your waistline!   

  • You can freeze most foods, so if it's nearing the end of its’ use by date, portion it up and freeze it!

  • Buy freshly baked bread rather than packaged alternatives.  Fresh bread goes hard but can still be used after a few days (e.g. bread crumbs), whereas packaged goes mouldy.

  • Remember there’s a difference between ‘Use By’ and ‘Best Before’ dates.  Do not eat food beyond its Use By date for safety reasons, but Best Before Dates refer to quality.  Most foods will last well beyond this, so use your judgement on whether it’s edible.

  • When you buy your shopping, organise your fridge so the things going off first are at the front.

  • Remember to keep your fridge below 5 degrees so that your food stays fresh longer. 

  • When food shopping, ordering takeaway, or at a restaurant: We know there is so much temptation, but save money by not ordering more food than you can eat! 

  • If you have any food that can’t be eaten, be sure to put all food into your food caddy supplied by TRDC. No food should go in your waste bin! 

  • TRDC will accept loose food in the caddy - it doesn’t need to be wrapped and you don’t need to buy special liners. 

  • If your food is packaged in flexible soft plastic, wash it and take it to either the Coop or Tesco. Both stores now collect and recycle all soft plastic. 

  • If you don’t have a home compost, join the cool composters! You can buy compost bins really cheaply. Then you can compost all your veg and fruit peelings and make free compost for your garden!

 Food Waste Action Week is happening during the 7-13 March 2022. Join WRAP in their week of action, working together to halve our food waste. For more ideas, check out the 'Love Food, Hate Waste' and Sustainable Three Rivers websites.

Additional Facts

  • Food waste contributes to a huge percentage of waste materials put into refuse bins in every area. 

  • 40% of groceries in the UK are sold on promotion and one in three UK shoppers impulse buy unhealthy food items because they’re on special offer (Royal Soc for Public Health)

  • Ultra-processed food now accounts for 50% of food purchases. We buy more of this than any other country in Europe (Public Health Nutrition 2017)

  • 20% of us now have a takeaway meal once a week or more - and often the leftover food and packaging is thrown straight into the refuse bin. 

Want to share your sustainable food story?

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