Don't waste that food

In many households it is common to purchase too much food, essentially thinking we need more then we will actually do. It is also common to have food that either hasn't been eaten or opened. Expiry dates and best before dates are both your best friend and your enemy when it comes to buying and eating food.

Many people believe that best before dates mean that the product cannot be eaten after a particular day, but in actual fact, the product will probably last and be good to eat a few days after this date. The expiration date, however, shouldn't be eaten any day past the date printed as this can cause serious illness and hospitalisation, and we definitely don't want anyone going to the hospital!

Fresh produce is always an item that people sometimes purchased too much of at a time because it is on special or at a great price. In accordance with "The War on Waste" one bag of groceries is wasted every week. That is a whole lot of food going to landfill for no reason and money being wasted. I for one am notorious for this and my mum is as well. You get pulled in to a great deal like punnets of strawberries for $1.50, and I can tell you right now out of the 5 punnets purchased, at least one was wasted. This s a sad day for all strawberry lovers. It's frustrating to say the least when you cut open a piece of fruit or vegetable and its spoiled, moulded or starting to rot. YUCK!

Some sad blueberries I found in the fridge when searching for
fruit to have with my breaky. One has mould on it,
so its best to be safe and share them with the compost bin

However, there is ways to stop this from happening and wasting such beautiful ingredients. Planning out your meals and snacks for the week is a great way to reduce your food waste, save you money and avoid having pantry nesters. Most products have an extensive amount of time before they are out of date, but there are those tricky ones like salsa which can't be eaten 7 days after opening. Another idea would be to label your containers with used ingredients such as fruit, veg, and leftover pasta with its name and open or made date, so you know how much longer you have to both cook and eat it.

Comments

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