Rethink your food

e statistics regarding food waste are dire. It’s estimated that one third of food ends up in the bin, creating 1 million tonnes of food waste every year in Ireland, according to Stop Food Waste. Buying and eating local, seasonal food is at the heart of conscious culinary practices and these are good principles to stick to, but it’s also about reconsidering how you shop. According to Pat Kane, sustainability expert and founder of minimal waste shop Reuzi (reuzi.ie), we are simply buying too much food. “e rst step is to understand what your family consumption habits are – what do you eat and what is it that you’re buying o en,” says Pat, who o ers a house call service, advising households on ways they can decrease their ecological footprint. “For breakfast, if it’s always cereal, you need to have cereal there but you also know you don’t want to have six boxes because that’s a waste of space and probably a waste of money. You need to buy what you’re going to consume.” If you have flexibility, her advice is to always try to buy less, but more often. “That way, you know what things need to be eaten and when you’re ready to shop again, you’ll have less waste in your fridge,” she says. Going armed with a list is crucial, and for the big weekly shop, planning your meals will help cut down on food waste. “A lot of people might think that meal planning is going to be a nightmare and they say ‘I don’t know what I’m going to eat for lunch today, never mind for the entire week’. What I say is that it probably sounds like a pain because you don’t want to think that far in advance, but if you write down 10 to 15 meals that you can go to every time when you’re stuck or don’t have any creativity, you have the basis for your weekly shop. I think that’s a great way to start, so even if you don’t know what you’re going to be eating next Tuesday, at least you will have that in your fridge or freezer so

there’s something there.”