Love Food Hate Waste
Ever wondered how much money you waste by throwing away food because you've made too much, it's gone off or it's past its use by date?
Around a third of all the food we buy in the UK ends up being thrown away.
Most of this is perfectly good food that could have been eaten – not just peelings and bones, so South Tyneside Council is supporting the Love Food Hate Waste campaign, which encourages us all to get the most from the food we buy.
What happens to the food I throw away?
In the UK we throw away 6.7 million tonnes of food each year. Most of this ends up in landfill sites, which contributes to climate change because it emits methane, a very powerful greenhouse gas.
Not only are the environmental implications huge but the financial ones are too – it is costing us around £8 billion each year, as much as £400 per year for some households!
The Love Food Hate Waste campaign aims to raise awareness of the need to reduce the amount of food that we throw away, and how doing this will benefit us as consumers and the environment.
How can I cut down the amount of food I waste?
Cutting down on the amount of food we waste couldn't be easier. The Love Food Hate Waste website offers a whole host of practical hints, tips and recipes to help.
Ainsley Harriott says "You don't have to be a chef to know how to cut down on food waste, you just need to care about your pocket and the rest will follow."
Here are a few tips to get you started: 
- Most ripe fruit can be kept in the fridge to make it last longer
- Your freezer really is your kitchen hero – many fresh foods can be frozen: check the label.
- If things are approaching their "use by" date and you won't get round to eating them - pop them in the freezer for another day
- Sliced bread can be frozen and then used for breakfast toast
- Grate cheese in small portions and freeze - take it out in the morning to make lunchtime sandwiches, no need to defrost
- To freeze tomatoes, remove their stalks and freeze whole in freezer bags. They can then be used in place of canned tomatoes, in a tomato or Bolognese sauce or chilli con carne. Just put the whole frozen tomatoes into the pan at the point when you would add the canned tomatoes. No need to defrost them separately as they fall apart.
Have you got ideas or recipes on making the most of food? Log on to the Love Food Hate Waste website and share them.
Home composting
Don't forget... home composting is a great way to prevent unavoidable food waste such as peelings, cores and teabags ending up in landfill, and can do wonders for the garden.
More about home composting
