This year with more of us working from home, many started thinking more about food: shopping for it, preparing it, discovering we wasted quite a bit, and also realising we were faced with a lot of (mostly) plastic packaging. Did you watch ABC TV’s War on Waste and Q&A programs, and feel deflated that we aren’t really winning the war? Perhaps you watched YouTube videos on Plastic Free July efforts that highlight the significance of how we buy, transport, and then dispose of food we don’t eat?
Did you start at least making small changes to your habits – like carrying a refillable drink bottle or coffee cup instead of choosing a throwaway plastic one; or making an effort to bring your own re-usable bags and containers to the supermarket, fruit shop or takeaway bar; and choosing only loose items rather than those sitting on plastic trays packaged in endless plastic wrap? Bravo! It does make a difference, albeit small.
Everything has changed since our grandparents sat around shelling fresh peas and stringing beans (some of which were grown in the backyard), that they then cooked that night. Many young people have never seen this done.
We’re all so much busier. Many families have two full-time working parents, the kids have busy schedules of their own, and we rely mostly on supermarkets or take-away shops to provide either the produce we use to prepare most meals, or even many of the full meals eaten in the home. Most of that food is heavily packaged, both in transit and on the shelves, unfortunately in plastic that will never decompose in landfill, and too much of which ends up in our waterways doing irreparable harm.
If you want to eat more nutritious meals and do something for the environment, start with these six tips:
- Aim to maximize food variety every day. Try to eat 30 different foods each day, across all the food groups, to maximise nutrition, ensuring you get all the nutrients and fibre your body needs.
- Start by overhauling your recipe collection and culling those using processed, not-so-nutritious, often overpackaged ingredients. Also identify recipes that don’t have too many ingredients to clutter up the pantry and expire before you use them. Digitising your recipes by categories means you can access from any device, including at the supermarket when you shop.
- If you want more recipes to use up excess fruit and vegetables, have a look at the Sydney Markets website for what’s in season this month and recipes to enjoy them. Or the Sydney Fish Markets for a range of seafood recipes.
- Also, read the ingredient labels of processed food and check recipe websites to make some yourself, without the additives and sugar often included in these foods – home-made sauces and dressings tend to be more nutritious and flavoursome, plus they are quick (and cheaper) to make.
- When you make it yourself, you are in control of what you eat. You’ll find most of what you used to buy in packaging can be made with only a few ingredients, quite easily.
Using spices to make pastes, rather than buying them ready-made, is cheaper and usually lower in sodium. And try experimenting with different recipes to use ingredients you have, to replace those in your regular recipes – you might be surprised how tasty they can be.
The day before your grocery run, throw all leftover veggies in a pot to make soup, or add into a frittata, quiche or savory muffins and freeze extras in single serves for later quick meals or snacks; make jam from overripe fruit or pickles from extra veggies. - Here’s a few more ideas to help limit food waste, but add variety:
– Grating surplus apples to add to pumpkin soup or salads; or zucchini, carrot or cabbage to add to soups or hamburgers/meatballs; or stale wholemeal bread into breadcrumbs for vegetable or casserole toppings.
– Serving bite-size food to use up leftovers – makes them fun.
– Adding carrot tops to your green smoothie, rather than the compost.
– Revive wilted lettuce in a bath of ice water.
– Cut up extra fruit and put it on a serving plate: it will magically get eaten.
At least your diet will improve, even if it won’t save the planet – that’s part two of the exercise: focusing on retailers and producers to improve and reduce non-compostable packaging. But it’s a great start!