Who else is guilty of making a pot of curry, enough to feed a nation perhaps, only to find yourself hovering over the bin after dinner?
The guilt takes over so you find the nearest container and nicely house it away in the back of the fridge only for it to be thrown out at a later stage when the world has moved on from your guilt.
Never fret, I think the tipping point is near, when the loaded trolleys must become a thing of the past and eating fresh but shopping often becomes ingrained in our weekly food habits.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency current household food waste is estimated to be 250,000 tonnes per annum. Globally, more than one quarter of food produced is wasted.
From a climate perspective, food waste is a major problem and one that is easy to tackle individually. As you ponder how to solve the world’s climate crisis, why not think small and start at home.
Becoming carbon neutral is a world that demands some form of carbon footprint can seem like a gigantic challenge. Too big to tackle it may seem. However, baby steps go a long way. Adopting climate friendly shopping habits instead of giving into the temptation of the deliciously packed shelves may just be your first way to make an environmentally friendly household.
Shop more, buy less
With so many choices, there’s an incentive to buy more than you need everytime you pop into a shop, especially if you think you have a busy few days ahead. It’s just too easy to go into one store for a salad and come out with a pizza, crackers, two dips, cheese, milk and fruit.
Without even thinking about it there’s a mini shop right there. Reducing waste at home involves changing our shopping habits which is never easy. With so many enticing items on the shelves, it is getting more and more difficult to step away.
Shopping in bulk is a lose-lose; with the environment and your pocket being the losers. Instead of doing a mad dash to the shop trying to fill a trolley, why not give yourself an excuse to head to the shop more often and get a basket of food you know you will enjoy eating every time?
It’s been drilled home to us that bulk buying saves time and money but have you considered the cost of the food that you end up throwing away? The average Irish household throws out 150kg in food waste each year; at a cost of approximately €700.
Use the bruised fruits
If you are currently throwing out wilted or bruised fruit then you are missing some extremely delicious opportunities to rehouse that fruit. Banana bread may have been one of the lock down go-to recipes around the country but it never goes out of fashion. Blended soups is another clever use of bruised fruits and vegetables.
Supermarkets may reject them but households should think twice before throwing out the ugly fruits that still pack a flavourful punch. As well as encouraging supermarket chains to buy discounted bruised fruit and vegetables, households now need to adopt these imperfect foods into their mealtimes.
Be mindful of approach to eating
Adopt a mindful approach to grocery shopping. An unhealthy relationship with food that leads to more waste is dissatisfying for everyone involved. Physically the rush to use food within the sell by date means it isn’t the freshest and doesn’t hold the most nutrients.
Mentally, it can be exhausting feeling bad about the negative impact the waste is having on the environment. It is time to flick the switch and adopt a more mindful approach to shopping and eating.
Pick up a basket rather than a trolley for your next outing to the supermarket, shop local whenever possible, think seasonally as our ancestors would have, fill a flask of tea in the morning instead of boiling twenty cups a day, and support producers that are conscious of waste reduction.
For example Upcycle Farm reuses disposed coffee grounds to grow Oyster mushrooms used in their revolution ragu.
Like any bad habit, it is going to take time to change our habits but by cutting down on food waste you may discover a new-found, loving relationship with the food on your plate. Studying our connection with the foods around us while reducing household waste will help the environment and save us eager shoppers a fortune at the same time.