Appeal to people in Louth to join Stop Food Waste Challenge

People in Louth are being urged to join in the the Stop Food Waste Challenge to reduce household food waste in Ireland, starting next Wednesday 1 March, National Stop Food Waste Day.

The national campaign, being run by Stop Food Waste, aims to reduce household food waste in Ireland, and is managed by the Environmental Protection Agency. 

Stop Food Waste run awareness-raising initiatives to share easy tips and resources on how we can make the most of our food, keep it fresher for longer and avoid food waste. It says that by making small changes to how we plan, store and cook food, we can save money and time and lessen our impact on the environment.

The average Irish household can save around €700 a year by avoiding food waste. In the most recent national food waste attitudes survey, commissioned by the EPA, three food types were identified as those wasted most often in Ireland:

• Bread (41%)
• Fruit (39%)
• Vegetables (38%)

To take part in the Stop Food Waste Challenge, starting from 1st March, people in Louth are asked to record their food waste for one week to identify what types of food they waste most.

To record the food that goes into your food bin, Stop Food Waste suggests:

• Keep a pen and pad by the food waste bin to take note each time you use it.
• Keep track of what you waste on your phone using the notes app.
• Use Stop Food Waste's Weekly Food Waste Recording Sheet to note what food goes in your food waste bin.
• During the Challenge, you can get everyone in your house to record what food goes to waste or you can designate one person to be your ‘Food Waste Tracker’, whatever works for you!

At the end of the week, tally up your results and see which types of food you wasted the most. By knowing what food you waste the most, you can now see where you can make savings on your food bill and take action.

After taking the Stop Food Waste Challenge, you will Know Your Food Waste. The next step is knowing how to reduce it. Here are some ideas Stop Food Waste suggests might help to get started:

Bread – Freeze it and Eat It

• You can freeze bread if you have too much. Find out how to make the most of bread here.
• You don’t need to throw out stale bread. Find out how to stop wasting bread with Jamie Oliver’s top tips here.

Fruit – Store Better and Eat It

• Store apples in the fridge so they last longer – they will store for up to 1 month!
• Use your over-ripe bananas to whizz up a quick and delicious smoothie. 

Vegetables – Buy Less and Eat It

• You can buy potatoes singly or in different package sizes. A large bag of spuds is only good value if they are eaten. 
• Tired-looking and floppy veggies are still nutritious and can make a yummy meal. Try SafeFood’s Vegetable Provencal recipe here.

Stop Food Waste are inviting participants to share their results on social media by using the hashtag #KnowYourFoodWaste and tagging @stopfoodwaste.ie

Find out more about the campaign at https://stopfoodwaste.ie/.