The Vegan Kind Staff's Top Tips for Reducing Food Waste at Home

7-13 March 2022 is the second annual Food Waste Action Week in the UK. Millions of tonnes of food are harmfully thrown away each year in Britain alone - taken to landfills to rot, creating greenhouse gases such as methane that warm our already severely damaged planet. As well as the climate emergency, there is also the county's poverty crisis to consider. With an estimated 1 in 5 of the UK population and growing considered in poverty, there really is no excuse to not be as thoughtful as possible with the food we are lucky enough to be able to afford.

We surveyed our knowledgeable vegan staff here at TVK headquarters for their top food conserving tips to save you some money, alleviate poverty and help our precious planet.

“I try to use all discarded parts of veggies to make something new or add to risottos and soups. My favourite example is using broccoli stalks to make broccoli chips. I also use excess water used to boil rice, pasta or veggies to feed my plants.” - Hannah G

“I make big pots of soup out of veg that’s close to going off and feed a lot to our pets. The kids grow their own herbs which helps reduce plastic waste too.” - Jennifer W 

Ideally, we would all only use exactly what we cook each day, but this is not always possible, especially if cooking for a large family. Excess food can be used in a myriad of ways including refrigerating or freezing for later use, incorporating into other meals, given to pets and garden animals, or composted.

“I turn my vegetable scraps into veg stock for my plant-based dinners and take fruit peels and other food scraps to my local community garden to be composted.” - Rhona M

Excess food that can’t be repurposed is best recycled where it will be used in fertilisers or converted to energy to power our homes and businesses, rather than thrown into normal garbage bins where it will rot and decay in landfills. You can add food straight to your garden compost or recycle it in a Kitchen Caddy. Be careful to remove all packaging beforehand otherwise recycling won’t be possible.

What can be recycled?

Fruit, vegetables and peelings, rice, pasta, bread, cakes and pastries, pet foods, tea bags and coffee grounds.

What can’t be recycled?

Any non-food including packaging, milk, oils, and fats. 

Once full, transfer to your outdoor large food bin for pickup by the council. 

“Plan your family’s meals for the week ahead and only buy what’s is in the plan.” - Jennifer W 

“Don’t shop on an empty stomach!” - Leo M

Shop with a purpose. If you know exactly what you need for the week you can get in and out quicker, avoiding tempting impulse buys. Planning also means cooking more from whole foods that use less wasteful packaging and result in fresh, delicious plant-based meals. Winning! Also, check your cupboards, fridge and freezer to see what you already have to avoid stocking up on too much food that might eventually go beyond its “use by” or “best before” date. 

“Chop and freeze excess vegetables while they’re still fresh for use later on in things like vegan soups and casseroles.” - Rhona M

“I freeze peelings and scraps then make a stock by simmering in water for 1-2 hours. But be careful ‘cause some fruit and veg aren’t great for freezing. Oh, and a top tip for vegans is instead of pouring it down the drain, save and freeze excess chickpea water for baking.” - Kate D 

“You can freeze herbs in oil and stock in ice cube trays. I often do that with rosemary & thyme if I’m not going to get through it all while it’s still fresh.” - Rhona M

“Oh, that reminds me, you can freeze curry pastes too! For example, if you open a big jar and only use half and don’t wanna eat another curry soon, just pop it in ice cube trays.” - Kate D 

Freezing is a fantastic way to save excess food created from either cooking too much or unused food close to going off. The recommended freezing lengths are 3 months for fruit and up to an incredible 12 months for vegetables. Good news for us plant-based munchers!

As part of your meal planning, one trick is to cook in bulk and separate your meals for use later on in the week or month. Be sure to name and date each meal to avoid forgetting what it is or how long it can stay fresh for.

“Grab reduced fresh food in supermarkets like sandwiches and vegan pies to save them from waste and snag a bargain at the same time.” - Kate D  

“Vegan food that’s close to or even beyond its best before or use by date lasts longer than meat and dairy foods.” - Gabriella R

Unfortunately, supermarkets all across the country such as Tesco and Sainsbury’s produce massive amounts of food waste. Thankfully though, reductions are made throughout the day as it nears its sell-by date. Eagle-eyed bargain hunters will already be aware that the optimum time for reductions is in the evening, around 7-8 pm. If lucky, you might even nab yourself some 42p houmous wraps or 25p bars of dark chocolate! Lucky thing. 😋

Images courtesy of SHVETS production, Yaroslav Shuraev, Laura James, Eva Elijas, Polina Tankilevitch and Arina Krasnikova via Pexels.