Why Frozen Food Is Better For You And For The Planet

Globally, one out of every four food calories produced for people is never eaten by them , which means that an estimated 25% of the world’s food calories are lost or wasted.
40% of losses happen at the retail or consumer level. Per capita, food waste by consumers in North America and Europe is between 100 and 200 kg.
In the UK, over 10.2 million tonnes of good food goes to waste every year. That is 156 kg per person. *
From this amount of food, we could prepare more than a billion meals.
Most of this food (70%) is wasted in domestic households, with fresh vegetables being the most wasted product.

This also means a lot of wasted resources like water, land and labor and a huge environmental catastrophe.

Most wasted food in the UK ends up in landfill, which adds to the problem of greenhouse gas emissions, releasing methane and carbon dioxide, the most polluting gases which contribute to climate change. If food waste was a country it would be the third biggest polluter on Earth.

Frozen is reduced food waste

One of the easiest ways to prevent food waste at your home is by buying frozen food.
Reports suggest that if people consumed more frozen food, we could significantly reduce food waste.
A study by Manchester Metropolitan University (2018) has revealed that British families could reduce their waste by nearly half (47.5%) by eating frozen food.
Researchers asked 20 families to eat meals prepared from fresh ingredients for one week and the same meals made with frozen ingredients The experiments aimed to compare food waste and costs. The study revealed that cooking from frozen products was more affordable and created less waste. The participants also admitted the meals tasted at least as good or better than fresh.

Frozen food is cheaper and more sustainable

Reducing food waste means more money for weekly shopping. The frozen food supply chain creates less food waste and that makes frozen products cheaper than their fresh equivalents. Lower prices of plant-based frozen food makes healthier food options more accessible to low budget households.
Frozen food can significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions for products that are produced outside the UK. Changing energy to renewable sources and improving frozen products transport and storage technology will make it more sustainable and more affordable in the future.

Frozen food is healthy and tasty

When frozen, vegetables, fruits, plant-based meats and plant-based seafood preserve their flavour, nutrients and vitamins for a long time. Especially fruits and veggies are often superior in nutritional value and taste since they are picked and processed when they are fresh and ripe at their peak and fast frozen to seal in all the best flavour and vitamins such as vitamin C, antioxidant polyphenols, lutein, beta-carotene and anthocyanins. Fresh vegetables and fruits are harvested before they mature and they often travel long distances, exposed to different weather conditions, light and temperature, which negatively influence their nutritional value. Before they reach your kitchen, they may spend weeks on trucks and in the warehouses, kept in bad conditions. Additionally, after a few days in the refrigerator, fresh produce looses their nutrients and vitamins.

Frozen food saves time

Although frozen food products have an expiry date indicated by the manufacturer, many of them remain safe to eat forever.
Frozen foods are also often cheaper to buy than fresh. Their shelf life is longer, and availability is all year-round.
If you live a busy lifestyle, frozen food is Cooking with frozen foods saves plenty of your time.
Vegetables and fruits are usually pre washed and pre cut, simply ready to put in a pot or warm up in the microwave. Plus, many items are just ready to cook.