Planning meals key to cutting food waste

Many shoppers are looking at ways to make groceries last, to reduce waste and the spread of coronavirus.

Ylva Haglund, food waste campaigns manager at Zero Waste Scotland, said: “Our number one tip for avoiding too many trips to the supermarket is to plan your meals.

“The list will help ensure you’ve got what you need and it will also likely save you money, if you stick to it.”

“People tend to already have the key ingredients at home needed to make things that can last a while and be enjoyed by the whole family.”

Dr Jon Wilkin, business development manager for Food Innovation at Abertay University, said people should aim to do just one weekly shop.

“It is really important to write a list of the types of foods you will be eating on a day-to-day basis, so you can buy everything you need in the one trip.

“There’s no need to go overboard with the shopping.

“Just make that list, make sure you stick to it and ensure you have everything you need for the week.”

Ylva said it is time to “make friends with your freezer”.

“Storing food in the best place can really extend its life.

“The freezer acts like a stop button on our food so anything that is about to reach its use-by date, pop it in the freezer.

“There are very few things which cannot freeze.”

According to Zero Waste Scotland, in 2019 an estimated 987,890 tonnes of food and drink in Scotland was wasted, with the Scottish Government pledging to reduce all food waste in the country by 33% by 2025.

Jon said: “Hopefully, people are wasting less and using up all of their leftovers.

“I hope that can continue as Scotland wastes around (per year) 31,000 tonnes of milk, 25,000 tonnes of bread, 19,000 tonnes of potatoes and 14,000 tones of ready meals.

“This waste is simply wrong and needs to stop. The energy that goes into producing this amount of food is large and is contributing to climate change.”

Ylva added: “It’s difficult to be sure of the outcome, and whether the lockdown will affect our eating habits in the long run and consequentially our waste habits. We hope the nation has a greater appreciation for food.”