Make your food go further
Residents looking to save money can make their food last longer by storing it the right way.
The Love Food Hate Waste campaign has tips on how to keep food fresh and tasty for longer. It is also offering residents the chance to win a three course meal for two by coming up with their own leftover recipes.
How to make your food last longer:
• Keep your fridge temperature below 5°C. Research shows that up to 30 per cent of fridges are too warm, which means food won’t last as long as it could.
• Don’t keep bread in the fridge because it will go stale much quicker. Keep it in a cool, dark place like a bread bin or store cupboard. Bread can also be frozen.
• Each year, 17 billion ‘five-a-day’ portions are thrown away. The fridge is the ideal place to store most of your fruit and veg, except bananas and pineapples (keep these cool but don’t refrigerate), and potatoes and onions (keep these in a cool, dark place).
• Apples last up to two weeks longer in the fridge and peppers up to a week longer.
• Do not store fruit and veg in sealed containers in the fridge. Keep them in the original packaging because it has been designed to help them stay fresh for longer.
• Eggs should be kept at a constant temperature below 20°C and keep best in their box stored in the fridge.
• Once opened, cheese and ham keep better if they’re well wrapped by re-closing the pack, wrapping in cling film or foil, or putting it in an airtight container.
• You can freeze food before the ‘use by’ date. Defrost and consume within 24 hours.
County Councillor Kevin Bentley, cabinet member for economic development and waste said: “It’s important that we are all doing as much as we can to reduce the amount of food we throw away. Storing correctly and making the most of our leftovers means less of the food we buy goes to waste – which is good for the environment and our pockets.”
Residents can enter the Essex County Council Love Food Hate Waste competition by sharing recipes that can be made using leftovers. The prize for the winner is a three course lunch for two with a bottle of house wine at Baumanns Brasserie in Coggeshall.
You can submit your recipes online or by emailing wastemanagement@essex.gov.uk. Postal submissions should be sent to:
Leftover Recipe Competition
Waste and Recycling
Essex County Council
County Hall
Chelmsford
CM1 1QH
Make sure you include your name, address and a contact telephone number. The deadline for entries is Tuesday January 31. Terms and conditions apply.
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