Unilever and Hubbub have teamed up to highlight how much good food is thrown away during the summer months.
New research found £12 million-worth of perfectly good food may be thrown away as families head off on their summer holidays.
Environmental charity Hubbub, in partnership with Unilever, recently commissioned a survey of over 2,000 people across the UK which found 59% of people threw away edible food when they went away.
Top of the items heading for the bin were milk (51%), salad (44%), fruit (40%), yoghurt (36%) and bread (34%).
Of those questioned, 45% said they threw food away as it couldn’t be frozen. Meanwhile, 58% didn’t realise milk could be frozen, similarly 62% didn’t know about ham, and 63% didn’t about hard cheese.
Share it around
People are now being encouraged to share food that would otherwise be wasted with neighbours.
The research found only 13% passed on food before going on holiday, while 81% admitted they would happily receive food from a neighbour.
Trewin Restorick, CEO of Hubbub, said: “We need to value our food more – to consider the energy and resources used to produce and transport food and do everything we can to avoid putting it in the bin. Travellers check your fridge!”
Charlotte Carroll, Sustainability Director of Unilever UK, said: “We’re encouraging people heading off on their summer holidays to use up the food you have already bought, freeze what you can and when you’re locking up the house and putting your bins out, knock on your neighbour’s door and share whatever’s left!”
Top tips
Here are Love Food Hate Waste's top tips for avoiding holiday food waste.
- In the run-up to your holiday, check out this dates guide so you can plan meals around what food you’ve got in the fridge.
- Don’t forget to put anything that will go past its use by date while you’re away but can be frozen into the freezer to eat when you get back.
- Slice any bread you have left over, put in a sealed bag and freeze. You can then toast straight from frozen when you get back home.
- Freeze the leftover cheddar too and then your first meal home can be cheese on toast – grated frozen cheese can be placed on top of frozen bread and grilled straight away. Tasty, cheap and easy!
- You can even freeze milk. Pop it in the freezer – ideally in small pots so it's quicker to defrost - and defrost when you get back for that perfect cup of tea.
- Always freeze your leftovers so you can have instant homemade ready meals whenever you need them, especially on your first day back from holiday.
- Summer trips with the family can be expensive even when holidaying in the UK, so why not use up last night’s leftovers for some travel-friendly lunches and snacks?
- If you have taken fresh foods on holiday with you transfer everything from your cool box into the fridge as soon as you arrive. If you are camping or caravanning ask your site if they will put your freezer packs in their freezer for you.
- If you can’t use it or freeze it, share it with your neighbour!
Food waste in the UK
Every year, seven million tonnes of food and drink is thrown away, with almost 50% of the total amount coming from our homes – and more than half of the food and drink could have been eaten!
Wasted food is said to cost an average household £470 a year, while families with children waste around £700 per year.
Do you share your food before you go away? Let us know in the Comments below.
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