Why does it happen?

The main reasons for throwing away food are:

• Your kids don’t always want to eat what you’ve cooked for them (read more about cooking for your children).
• Too much has been cooked or prepared eg pasta and rice all the time (read more about perfect portions).
• It hasn’t been used in time - fruit and vegetables are a typical example because they’ve gone off in the fruit bowl or in the fridge (read more about how clever storage can keep food fresher for longer).
• The food hasn’t been eaten before it goes past its use-by date (keep an eye on the 'best before' and 'use-by' dates. The 'best before' dates are more about quality than safety, except for eggs. So when the date runs out it doesn't mean that the food will be harmful, but it might begin to lose its flavour and texture).

There are all sorts of reasons why food might not get eaten in time:

• Plans change.
• We forget what food we have in the cupboards, forget to freeze or chill something to use at a later date.
• We simply don’t know how best to use up our leftovers.

Whatever the reason this site can help with Hints & Tips, Recipe Ideas and Portion Control. Check out our pages and find out how you can use food and not waste it.

Bad for the environment?

You bet!  There are serious environmental implications to wasting food. The amount of food we throw away is a waste of resources. Just think about all the energy, water and packaging used in food production, transportation and storage. This all goes to waste when we throw away perfectly good food.