On the 10th day of Christmas Cedrec gave to me, bin with food scraps and cheese!
The Christmas holiday time is very often associated with vast amounts of indulgent food, which sometimes does not end up being eaten and thrown away. According to the statistics, between 80 and 150 million tonnes of food is wasted in Europe annually, with another research stating that the EU is wasting more food than it is importing. The amount of food waste varies between countries, with some wasting more at the consumer level, while in other countries a lot of food is wasted at the production stage.
How to reduce food waste during Christmas?
The first step in reducing the amount of food wasted is to plan in advance - it is best to know how many people will be eating, what types of foods and what can be done to deal with leftovers, such as giving them away for people to take back home, or cooking different meals with leftover meats and vegetables. Sitting down and planning meals, portion sizes and cooking times a little in advance is a great way to know exactly how much food may be needed and can reduce the stress of preparing and cooking through good organisation.
It is also best to avoid buying food in bulk, double-check before buying how much will needed. Are you sure that five kilos of potatoes will be eaten throughout Christmas before sprouting? Not everybody may be a fan of Brussels sprouts, a massive wheel of stilton cheese or that trendy nut roast!
The Internet has an abundance of great recipes that involve using leftovers, such as soups and roasts made of leftover meats, vegetables and cheese, as well as jams, marmalade or compotes made of leftover fruits.
Shopping at local food markets is also a way to reduce food waste as shorter supply chains are less likely to generate food waste. In addition, the greenhouse gas emissions from production to supply of fresh produce that is made locally are a lot smaller compared to food bought in supermarkets that has been shipped from across the globe.
Researchers at the University of Manchester calculated that an average Christmas dinner in the UK produces around 20kg of CO2 emissions, equalling 51,000 tonnes nationally, with the majority coming from the life cycle of a turkey and, surprisingly, the production and transport of cranberry sauce, that originates in the United States.
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