MasterChef judge Gregg Wallace is urging the nation to drastically cut down on food waste, saying it would do the world of good to bank balances and the environment.
To help make his point, he unveiled a 10ft-high globe with the land made from 363lb of discarded food – the amount the average British household chucks away each year.
Despite the rising cost of living, £14billion of food is needlessly binned annually in the UK. It works out as £60 a month for a family of four.
TV star Gregg, 57, has joined forces with the Love Food Hate Waste charity to raise awareness of the problem and to give tips on tackling it.
He said: “Write a list of everything you’re going to cook and eat that week...
“Just buy what you need for those meals. This will have a major impact on your purse.
“Get the family to sit together and agree on what your meals will be for the coming week.
“Once everyone has agreed, take your children with you and let them choose one vegetable which they will [help] you prepare.
“Not only will this teach them how to cook, it’ll help them join in with the decision making.”
Gregg also urged people to always use leftovers, with soup and curry being good meals to go for.
He added that leftover veg can be frozen then blended with a tin of tomatoes for pasta sauce.
The former greengrocer suggested avoiding special offers, such as three for the price of two.
He added: “If you didn’t plan to buy it, it’s not a bargain. Take a ‘shelfie’ of your cupboards and do an audit of your freezer before you go to the shops so you know what you really need.”
We waste 6.6 million tons of food per year. It is responsible for millions of tons of CO2 emissions as producing food generates greenhouse gases.
Speaking ahead of Food Waste Action Week, which starts today, Gregg said: “I had no idea about the impact on the environment that food waste has. The statistics around it and seeing the scale of how much is being thrown away really shocked me.”
- Food Waste Action Week runs from today (subs Monday March 7) until March 13. For more info, visit www.lovefoodhatewaste.com
