Stop Food Waste

1. Menu Planning

• Menu planning is great for the budget.
• Only buy what you need and will use - you will throw away less. 
• See what is in your fridge, pantry and freezer before you make up your grocery list and plan to use up what you already have! 

5. Sales

• A sale isn’t always a good deal, like if you buy limes on sale but don’t end up using them. If you can’t use a large container of antipasto before it gets old, split it with someone or freeze half in small freezer containers.

2. Food Storage   

• Keep an eye on the best-before dates and use foods before they hit the date.  What do best-before dates really mean? 
• Keep organized with lists of what you have on hand. Rotate your stock regularly by putting fresh supplies to the back of the cupboard and bringing forward the oldest items to get used first. Learn more here.
• Use up your freezer supply of an item before buying more. 

6. Too Much Fruit?  

• Freeze bananas and other fruit for muffins or smoothies. Try our Breakfast in a Blender recipe.
• Check out our Freezing Fruit information:  

3. Planned Overs

• Planned overs are a smart way to use leftovers, especially if someone in your home hates leftovers. 
• Soups, casseroles and pizza are great ways to use odds and ends, especially vegetables, cheese and leftover meat.  

Try our famous Hot Turkey Sandwich Pizza!

7. Freeze and Use Leftover Portions 

• A partial can of tomato paste can be frozen in 1 tbsp portions, ready to use the next time you only need a small amount. 
• Freeze excess chopped celery for stews.  
• Use the rind end of Parmesan to add to your next pasta sauce or soup. It will give it a lovely cheese flavour!  
• A half jar of pasta sauce or canned vegetables can be frozen to add to a casserole. 
• Fat rendered from cooking pancetta and bacon can be used instead of butter or oil to sauté foods.

4. Make a Broth  

• Wilted vegetables are the beginning of a great vegetable broth. Add limp carrots, bendy celery, celery leaves, onion peels, scraps of vegetable trimmings, and leek or beet tops to make Slow Cooker Vegetable Broth. Do not use any rotten or slimy vegetables. 
• A chicken or turkey carcass also makes a great broth. 
• Use these recipes as a guide. 

8. Compost 

• Check with a local garden centre or your city or town for information regarding starting to compost in your backyard.  
• Join an organics program, if available where you live.