Banstead resident Sharon Greaves tells us how a chance meeting with our Love Food Surrey roadshow team at her local supermarket, has helped her to waste less and save more. Here's her story.

Dear Love Food Surrey,

I was wandering into Asda one day, when I noticed a polite lady standing at the entrance giving things away.  She was busy chatting to shoppers at the time, so I simply walked past and did my shopping.

Now, being a nosy soul, I needed to know what she was doing there so I started to chat with her.  She gave me a rice/pasta measuring cup and a spaghetti measure.  Pasta, especially spaghetti and rice have always been a mystery to me; ALWAYS adding more as I start to cook.

So I decided to test it out whilst making a carbonara for my daughter. The spaghetti measuer worked really well and I could see that the portion size was considerably smaller than I'd usually make.  I've only just got a cooker so have yet to use the cup measure for rice, though I've used it for pasta already.

Since meeting the roadshow team, I am much more mindful of wasting food.  I'd rather cook less and save pennies than continually throw food into the bin.  I'm not in the habit of making lists, so haven't quite mastered the weekly meal planner as yet and still fall foul to buying things, which aren't eaten, though this awful habit has been significantly culled. Also, my fridge is no longer a terrifying entity, since there's generally only 2 days of food in it at any one time.

I have significantly reduced my waste and am more thoughtful when shopping.  Even my tinned items are greatly lessened.  I did succumb to Tesco's great offer on toilet paper, coffee and glade scented candles today (just waffling on here), but bought nothing for the fridge at all, since we weren't going to be in that particular evening and I've got bacon and cream for the much beloved carbonara tomorrow!

I would like to offer a sincere thanks, as at the very least, it has made me more considerate when I go shopping.

Sharon Greaves
January 2012