13 December 2022
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Freezing in advance could make big inroads into reducing food waste.
EVERY year in the UK, enough potatoes are binned by households to make roasties for Christmas Day for the whole country, for 48 years, staggering statistics from climate action group WRAP reveal.
Freezing potatoes and other vegetables in advance could make a big in-road into reducing this waste, says the organisation, which is urging consumers to re-think the way they use and dispose of food, with Christmas being one of the worst occasions of food waste.
Fresh vegetables and salad are the most wasted food group in the UK, with 1.3 million tonnes of perfectly good fresh vegetables and salads wasted every year, costing £2.7 billion. Swapping highly-wasted fresh foods for frozen options ('swaptions’) could help to reduce food waste, WRAP points out. They last for months and you can use as much as you need when you need it. Frozen vegetables can be cooked from frozen and WRAP's top tip is that when preparing fresh veg for freezing, blanch in boiling water for a few minutes and plunge into cold water before freezing.
Each year in the UK, approximately 6.6 million tonnes of food go to waste from UKr homes over the 12 months, with 70% of the UK’s total food waste coming from homes.
This costs households around £14 billion a year, or £730 for an average family. It produces 25 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions and 4.5 million tonnes is food that could have been eaten – 2 million tonnes of which wasn’t used in time.
Boxing Day is the busiest day for home chefs looking for inspiration to transform leftovers. WRAP's Love Food Hate Waste Portion Planner can help save money by guiding people towards the best number of potatoes and other trimmings to serve, no matter the number of guests.
Earlier this year, WRAP issued consumer guidance showing earlier that fresh produce can stay fresher for longer in the fridge - sometimes up to two and a half months longer.
WRAP is a climate action NGO working around the globe to tackle the causes of the climate crisis and give the planet a sustainable future.
