According to Foodwise, Australians throw out $8 billion dollars worth of food each year, with leftovers making up 27% of all food thrown out.* In New Zealand, food wastage could feed the population of Dunedin for nearly three years with $1.17 billion worth of food being thrown away each year.**
But, this doesn’t have to be the case. There are steps that we can all take to reduce the amount of food that we dispose of and ways that we can ensure we’re making the most of the ingredients and leftovers we have in our fridge.
If you’re keen to kick 2022 off with the goal of reducing your food wastage, check out the tips below.
1. Re-arrange and re-organise
It can be hard to keep track of the fresh food and leftovers you have in your fridge. To ensure that you aren’t finding last week's dinner when it is too late to eat for lunch or, coming across droopy snow peas that will no longer add crunch to your meal - plan and stay organised. We recommend delegating sections of your fridge to specific foods (e.g. dairy and poultry on a shelf at eye level) and putting the groceries most recently purchased behind those that need to be used first. It may sound obvious but it is an important habit to maintain. Check out our tried and tested ways to level up your fridge stacking game.
2. Invest in labeled containers
To make sure you get the most out of your food (whether it is fresh or delicious leftovers) you need to make sure you’re storing everything correctly. That’s why it is a good idea to invest in quality containers that you know will seal correctly and that won’t need to be thrown away after only a few uses, adding labels with dates and descriptions. This will also help you keep your fridge organised so it’s easier to know what food you have and when it needs to be eaten. In addition, make sure you are using your fridge correctly, taking advantage of features like FreshSeal Easy Glide Crispers and Slide Back and Flip Up Shelves on our 609L French Door Fridge.
3. Have simple recipes on hand
Sometimes when we have leftover food, we aren’t sure of what to do with it and as a result, it goes to waste, even though there could be multiple uses that stop this from being the case. So, to prevent this from happening we suggest planning ahead and considering how you can get the most out of what you’re purchasing at the supermarket by using it in multiple meals (e.g. using baby spinach in Spinach and Mozzarella Arancini one night and for a side salad the next). It can also be helpful to have a range of go-to recipes on hand that are all about using leftovers, these can be from a chef or creations of your own.
