Oxfordshire food lovers hate waste
Since the spring, council officers through Oxfordshire Waste Partnership (OWP), have been promoting the national Love Food Hate Waste campaign to raise awareness of the £10 billion worth of food wasted in the UK every year.
As summer draws to an end the campaign’s built momentum with over 2,200 Oxfordshire residents having shown commitment to reducing their food waste by pledging to Love Food Hate Waste. Recycling and food waste ‘experts’ from Oxfordshire councils have been asking people to think about their shopping and cooking habits to see if they can minimise waste and save money.
Paul Mocroft, communications officer from OWP says: “We’ve held roadshows throughout Oxfordshire over the past few months to offer help and advice to residents. Using simple portion control activities we’ve all had a few surprises on just how much people are overcooking and throwing away.”
“It’s really rewarding to be able to help people cut the amount of food they waste, and just as important to save money by making their weekly shop go further,” Paul adds: “We’re not trying to get people to eat less, or more, just to eat what they cook and keep the food out of the bin.”
Pledgers have committed to undertake simple activities such as making the most of their freezer (62 per cent), using their leftovers for another meal (60 per cent) and planning their weekly meals (58 per cent). In return for making a pledge each person has been given a free recipe book featuring over 150 recipes to use up leftovers.
The first recipe in the book is the winner of a competition run by OWP to find Oxfordshire's best leftovers recipe: Tim Gannaway's Chicken Curry (pdf doc, 772Kb). Tim, from Abingdon, won a meal for two at the Michelin starred Nut Tree Inn, Murcott.
He says: “Using up our leftovers comes naturally to us; they’re just another ingredient for our meals. My curry recipe is a family favorite so I was really pleased to win the competition and be able to share it with others.
The Love Food Hate Waste campaign is the brainchild of Oxfordshire based WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme). Since the official launch of the campaign Oxfordshire residents have helped the campaign achieve nationwide savings of nearly £300 million, with two million more households in the UK making savings of £164 each by eating more of the food they would previously have thrown away.
South Oxfordshire District Council has recently introduced a successful food waste collection scheme and the rest of the county will be following suit over the next fourteen months, with Cherwell District Council’s new scheme hitting 17,000 homes in Kidlington and some smaller North Oxfordshire villages before Christmas.
OWP chair Cllr John Tanner says: “We all want our new food waste schemes to be as successful as South Oxfordshire’s when we introduce them, but it’s so important for the public not to produce the food waste in the first place. I’d encourage anyone who wants a free recipe book to make a pledge at: Love Food Hate Waste pledge or by calling 08450 50 45 50.”
