We throw away $680m of food each year; our nutritionist has some simple tips for keeping food longer.
Photo Ross Setford/APN
Whether it’s arriving home from holiday to find potatoes growing spindly legs, a lack of weekday meal planning, or simply buying too much food, sometimes I find myself throwing rotting food into the bin. I’m not alone: the average New Zealander disposes of about $155 worth of food in the rubbish each year, according to research by the Australia Institute. That equates to over $680 million being spent each year in New Zealand on food that isn’t eaten.
Throwing a rotten cabbage into the bin may not seem like a big deal. But when we throw out food we’re also wasting all the resources that went into producing it – energy and fuel to grow crops, and to transport, process, store, refrigerate and cook food. What’s more, rotting food in landfills produces methane, which has more than 20 times the carbon pollution of car exhausts. A tonne of rotting food produces about 3.8 tonnes of CO2-equivalent emissions, making food waste a substantial environmental issue. The UK’s Waste Resources and Action Programme (Wrap) estimates that reforming the British public’s wasteful food habits could have the equivalent effect of taking one in five cars off UK roads.
Fruit and vegetables are the most frequently thrown away items, followed by meat and fish, then leftover restaurant and takeaway foods. Given all of these foods are typically refrigerated or frozen, paying more attention to managing our refrigerated food seems a good place to start.
That begins at the shop. We should buy only the best quality foods to get maximum shelf life; the use-by date on bargain buys is often sooner. Store foods appropriately as soon as you get them home. Most modern fridges have humidity-controlled compartments for fruit and vegetables that extend shelf-life and maximise nutrient content, taste and texture. Plastic bags aren’t needed for storage, says Laura Jones, a product evaluator in Fisher & Paykel Appliances’ refrigeration division. “If you’ve got your fruit and vegetables in plastic bags and with a humidity control system, they actually sweat too much and they can start to rot,” she says.
Fruit and vegetables are best stored separately, as many ripening fruits – apples, for instance – give off ethylene, which makes vegetables such as leafy greens, carrots and cucumbers go off more quickly. Bananas, tomatoes and tropical fruits are best stored in a cool pantry, while avocados can be left on the bench to ripen, then stored in the fridge. If your fridge has fruit and vegetable bins with adjustable humidity controls, ensure they are set correctly to maximise their content’s lifespan.
Keep cheese and butter in a container or a cupboard door shelf with a lid. These foods tend to be easily tainted by other items. Butter is so prone to tainting that Fisher & Paykel uses it to test whether any new materials used in the manufacture of their fridges will alter the flavour of foods, says Jones.
Store eggs in the fridge either in an egg carton or one of the lidded door compartments to extend their life. Eggs are porous so the fluids inside evaporate over time. Hence the egg sink-float test: if they sink in a glass of water they’re relatively fresh, and if they float they contain air and are therefore old.
Avoiding overbuying helps limit food waste. Think twice before you buy another jar of marinated artichokes, fancy relish or deli meats, for example. Some food products go off quickly, so only buy what you know you’ll use.
Another good way of limiting waste is to instigate a weekly leftovers day to use up the odds and ends in your fridge and pantry. Find inspiration on how to use leftovers at www.foodwise.com.au or ask your parents or grandparents for ideas – many older adults developed these skills in years gone by.
Perhaps the most important waste reduction step is acknowledging that throwing food away is a problem that needs fixing. Don’t let good food go bad. Eat it before it’s too late and you’ll not only maximise your nutrient intake and save yourself money, but also help the environment.
Email: nutrition@listener.co.nz, or write to “Nutrition”, c/o Listener, PO Box 90783, Victoria St West, Auckland 1142.