A food waste reduction campaign by Sainsbury's
by Michael Smith
The “Love Your Leftovers” campaign was begun by J Sainsbury Ltd., one of Britain's biggest supermarket company, as a response to the findings in a report that identified that vast amount of still perfectly good food is being thrown away by the people. Often this is due to people not understanding that “Best Before Date” does not equal and mean “Throw Before-” or “Throw By Date” and most treat the BBE date as an indication that food should be thrown away by that time, which is not the case.
I must say that I have seen people do just that with comments such as “it's out of date”.
If it is meat or fish or poultry then, as far as I am concerned, if it say “use by” then that is a different story but...
Aside from that there are leftovers from meals that also get thrown and all of which, in most cases, ends up in landfill. Here the composting food, together with everything else rotting down, creates methane gas (and other gases) and methane gas is reckoned to be the most dangerous climate change gas.
This issue as to the methane gas from the landfill would, to some extent, be irrelevant if the UK, like other countries, would tap the methane gas and use it, but, alas, until then we must reduce the organic materials that go into landfill.
Suddenly, I am aware, the British Labor government has yet again got a step closer to inventing the wheel as they are now in favor – what kept them, one can but ask – of anaerobic digestion and power generation from the gas.
But it has, yet again, taken millions of Pounds Sterling to find this out in the first place and, apparently, we now need another ten million for yet another study on this as to whether it can actually be done in Britain. But, I guess, I digressed, yet again. Happes, I know.
The problem that so much leftover food is going to waste is because we, in the UK especially, have lost the art of cooking with leftovers. I know of people who, for instance, love “Bubble and Squeak” but who, because they have no idea of how to make it (with leftovers) go and buy it ready made to cook in microwave or over. This is sad.
We must take a leaf out of the book of wartime cooking and of the cooking in rural areas in, for instance, the USA, in order to learn to cook like that again. The recipes of World War II in Britain (and the USA, I am sure) should provide a great source of how to cook with leftovers. It is a shame that they have not as yet been republished. Maybe someone could do that.
Most people do not know, and I am addressing here the men as much as the women, how to cook from scratch and especially, as said already, how to make tasty meals from leftovers. Time to take some real good lessons from the past.
Our ancestors – mine particularly, but then we are a Gypsy family – knew how to conjure up tasty and wholesome meals from nigh on nothing and especially from leftover foods.
All that the great majority, so at least it would appear, of the people are capable of is to throw leftovers away. Then again, mind you, often the leftovers are from takeout meals of various origins and reheating them may not be a good idea; in some cases that is for certain. Reheating rice too often and incorrectly could be fatal.
For its campaign “Love Your Leftovers” Sainsbury's has also brought out a little brochure in accompaniment by that titles, namely “Love Your Leftovers” with a couple of ideas and recipes.
A whole series of recipes, as Sainsbury's have done for other subjects, for this campaign and issue in order to literally teach – yes, teach – people how to make wholesome meals from leftovers that the entire family would want to eat.
Such a venture, a series of recipe cards, especially if given away free in store, like the other ones, could go some way in reducing food waste.
I think it would really be nice if we could have some “Love Your Leftovers” recipe cards – and entire collection – about in the same way as the “Feed Your Family For A Fiver” and such.
In addition to such cards recipes using leftovers could be made available downloadable on the websites.
© M Smith (Veshengro), October 2008
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Love your leftovers
