Food SOS!
July, 09, 2008
The news media couldn’t help but comment on the way that the world’s most powerful leaders put food prices and shortages at the top of their agenda at the G8 summit in Japan, as they sat down to their eight course, nineteen dish banquet. Perhaps it would have been rude to decline the champagne and caviar, but it does make the Prime Minister’s call for prudence in our kitchens seem somewhat, well, hypocritical.
Gordon Brown tells us that we need to make saving food as important as saving energy and that by buying unnecessary produce we are all contributing to the struggle to pay the monthly bills. Cheers, Gordon, I’m sure you fret over the ‘leccy bill for No. 10.
The figures released make alarming reading; families in Britain apparently throw away a staggering 4.1 million tonnes of perfectly good food each year, costing each household £420 annually. Mr Brown said “If we are going to get food prices down, we must also do more to deal with unnecessary demand, such as by all of us doing more to cut out food waste which is costing the average household in Britain £8 per week.”
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It seems amazing that we wouldn’t notice, especially in these days of thrift, that we were throwing so much cash away. Also how exactly do these experts know how many rotten carrots and out of date yoghurts you and I are throwing in our bins? It must only be a question of time before a government Food Waste Task Force installs fridge-cams to check.
Furthermore we’ve been told for months that food prices and shortages were being caused by poor harvests, demand from Asia, the long-term increase in demand for grain and the higher cost of energy, fertiliser and transport. Oh … and of course the fact that farmers have been encouraged to switch to “eco-friendly” bio-fuels leading to a massive worldwide shortage of maize and wheat.
But now it’s because we throw out a mouldy half eaten tin of baked beans which got lost at the back of the fridge. Has the nanny state gone even further than usual when the Prime Minister micro manages to such an extent that he tells us how to buy and eat our food?
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Everybody seems to be in the “why-didn’t-I-think-of-that” food advice game at the moment! SaveBorrowSpend scours the web to see what these new Masters of Thrift are saying...
The Prime Minister’s Top Tips
Mr Brown tell us we should plan meals in advance and store food properly; putting fruit and veg in the fridge to make it last longer. (Gordon has also had a pop at the supermarkets, who are currently in a prize war, saying their three-for-two or buy-one-get-one-free deals are encouraging waste. Doesn’t the Prime Minister have a freezer? Has he ever actually been to a supermarket?).
Advice from the Energy Saving Trust
Stock your fridge, freezer and cupboards with long shelf-life basics so you always have ingredients at hand to make the most of fresh food. This one is right up there with “Why not take an umbrella out in the rain to avoid dampness.” Cheers.
Richard Swannel of WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme)
Richard suggests that we freeze bread and just take out a slice to toast rather than throwing away half a loaf. I put this to my husband, who unsurprisingly told me that (a) life’s simply too short and (b) who eats less than a half loaf of toast in one go anyway?
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Love Food Hate Waste
WRAPs campaign is called “Love Food Hate Waste” and their website holds lots of top tips including storing apples in the fridge for freshness and quality, and if you buy bananas in the bag they stay firmer and look better for at least a few days longer if you keep them in the bag. I’m trying this one and will report back on the smashing experiment anon.
Organize It (who purport to offer “practical help on personal development”)
Another website that jumps on the stop wasting food bandwagon with their tips: “shop more often and buy less, buy only what you will definitely eat and use your freezer.”
Tips from the Hippy Shopper
"Grow your own. Make left-over recipes like bubble and squeak and take leftover food to work for lunch". They don’t actually suggest buying flares and growing your own hemp underpants, but hey, why not?
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The Time’s Anna Shepard
“Save the woody bottom bits of asparagus stalks to drop into a stock for summer soups thickened with leftover mashed potato; whiz tough broad beans in a blender with garlic and a splash of olive oil to make a dip, or boil them and mash with rosemary, garlic and oil.” I’ve spent all day looking for the woody bottom bits of asparagus in my kitchen, but only found some empty beer cans and a pizza box. Sorry, Anna.
My tip? Invest in a copy of Mrs. Beeton’s Book of Household Management (full of gems such as "As with the COMMANDER OF AN ARMY, or the leader of any enterprise, so is it with the mistress of a house ..."). This venerable tome is much more fun than the ‘advice’ from Gordon and the rest. 
SaveBorrowSpend Philippa Adam
