Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water NSWLove Food Hate WasteLove Food Hate Waste

Love Food Hate Waste

Issue 1: December 2010

Love your food this Summer

Welcome to the summer issue of 'Love your food'.

In this issue:




Plan your festive feasts early and reduce food waste

Plan your festive feasts early to avoid food waste

Plan your festive feasts early to avoid food waste

The festive season is fast approaching and it is never too early to start planning the special meals that will be shared with family and friends. When we gather for a festive season dinner, lunch or breakfast, food is often at the heart of the celebration.

The spirit of sharing and the excitement of the celebration can mean we end up buying and preparing too much food. Often this results in wasted food that is thrown in the bin and ends up in landfill, creating methane gas.

By planning ahead, developing a detailed shopping list, and thinking twice before throwing away leftovers, you can enjoy your festive celebration, save money, and reduce your impact on our environment.

To reduce food waste in your home follow the top five Love Food Hate Waste tips this festive season:

  • Plan your celebration meals

    With so many new and delicious recipes as well as all the traditional favourites, it is important to plan your menu. Planning your meals will help you to save time, money and reduce the amount of food that is thrown away.

  • Write a shopping list

    By writing a shopping list, based on your menu plan, you will be less likely to be tempted by specials, deals and impulse purchases. A good shopping list will take into account what you already have in your fridge, freezer and cupboard and will help you stay focused on what you need to buy.

    During the festive season there are lots of specials and deals. Sometimes these deals can be great value, provided they are what you need and you know you will be able to use them. Always remember to check 'use by' and 'best before' dates when choosing items.

  • Measure your serving sizes

    It can be tricky to estimate how much to prepare when we will be hosting family and friends. It is important to get the serving size per person right as we often over cater. The Love Food Hate Waste serving size calculator will help you work out quantities of food items for the number of guests attending.

  • Store your food correctly

    During the festive season the fridge never seems big enough. Try not to overload your fridge - maintaining the recommended temperature of 3-4 degrees celsius and good air flow is important to keep your food longer and for food safety. Remember to check the recommended storage instructions on food packaging and store items in your freezer when appropriate.

  • Use your leftovers

    Each year NSW households throw away $694 million worth of leftovers. If you have leftovers make sure that you use them for another meal rather than putting them in the bin or compost. Many dishes taste even better the next day. Make sure that you store your leftovers in airtight containers in the fridge to keep them fresher for longer.

For more tips and tools on how to reduce food waste visit www.lovefoodhatewaste.nsw.gov.au


Woolworths supports households to Love Food and Hate Waste

Inaugural partner Woolworths supports the launch of the LFHW program.

Inaugural partner Woolworths supports the launch of the LFHW program. Left to right: Frank Sartor, Minister for Climate Change and the Environment. Andrew Hall, Director Corporate and Public Affairs, Woolworths Ltd. Kate Carnell, CEO, Australian Food and Grocery Council

In May 2010 Woolworths signed up as an inaugural partner of the NSW Government's Love Food Hate Waste program to help householders waste less food and save our environment.

Since becoming a partner, Woolworths has rolled out a major awareness program in stores to promote the Love Food Hate Waste message to householders. Woolworths Director of Supermarkets, Greg Foran said "We are really pleased to support this innovative program, and would like to help our customers buy, cook and save food to minimise food waste and help the environment.

"To raise awareness about the food waste issue we have rolled out promotions in our stores across NSW, such as check out promotion, fresh food recipe cards on how to use leftovers, and stories in our 'Fresh' in-store magazine.

"Woolworths will be running promotions in-store and in the media over the next two years to help households take simple steps to reduce the amount of food waste in their home."

"We are really excited about the role we can play in reducing food waste, not only at the household level but also in our stores" said Mr Foran.

"Woolworths is the first major food retailer to commit to an ambitious zero food waste to landfill target by 2015, and has implemented several programs to achieve this target."

"In January 2010, Woolworths supermarkets launched Fresh Food Rescue, a year long campaign to rescue a record amount of surplus food from the waste stream and turn it into meals for the those in need. Already one of the largest food donors in Australia, Fresh Food Rescue has a target of providing two million meals for those in need and $2 million to assist those who collect and deliver the food" said Mr Foran.

Find out more about Woolworths' and other partner's involvement in the Love Food Hate Waste program.

If you would like to become a Love Food Hate Waste partner please contact us.


Roast vegetable salad

A delicious salad for boxing day lunch

A delicious salad for boxing day lunch

Love Food Hate Waste has great recipe ideas for you to prepare this festive season.

This roast vegetable salad is a great way to use roast vegetables leftover from lunch or the last remaining vegetables in your crisper. The best thing about this recipe is that you can mix and match the vegetables suggested with what you have at home. This delicious salad is sure to be a hit on Boxing Day lunch.

This salad requires 10 minutes preparation plus 40 minutes cooking and contains 15 serves of vegetables.

This recipe has been provided by Go for 2&5®. Recipe © State of Western Australia 2010, reproduced with permission.

See www.lovefoodhatewaste.nsw.gov.au for the recipe in full.


Food lovers share their top food saving tips

Each issue we will share some of our interesting and clever food saving tips received from the community who have become Food Lovers.

Here are five Food Lover tips provided at the Sydney Good Food and Wine Show by people that visited the Love Food Hate Waste stand.

  • Add spices to your leftovers to create a new dish. S. Priva, Sydney
  • Use magazines for ideas about vegies in season. Mrs Brown, Baulkham Hills
  • Buy bulk vegetables, blanch quickly and freeze in portions. V. Henderson, Berkeley Vale
  • Juice old lemons and freeze in ice cube trays for cooking. V. Couvee, Pendle Hill
  • Slice cakes, wrap and freeze for single serves when you need them. J. Garde, Blaxland

Share your tip by becoming a Love Food Hate Waste Food Lover.


Buying and storing tips for your favourite festive foods

Love Food Hate Waste has identified some favourite festive season foods. Here are some useful tips to help you when you are buying and storing your food this festive season. This information has been reviewed by NSW Food Authority, a proud partner of the Love Food Hate Waste program.


Home

Love food

Buy it

Cook it

Save it

DECCW 2010/927

For more information
lovefoodhatewaste.nsw.gov.au
info@lovefoodhatewaste.nsw.gov.au
02 8837 6000
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