Fair Food is humbled to have passed the milestone of sharing 5 million meals worth of fresh food with people in need, since 2021.
Thank you to Radio New Zealand for having us on to chat about our top tips for food waste minimisation.
Supermarkets, food manufacturers, and growers donate their surplus fresh ingredients to Fair Food, which prepares them for distribution through a network of 60 Auckland community groups.
In 2023, Fair Food kept 656 tonnes of food from going to landfill, which is like 72,906 kerbside rubbish collections.
Advice for all
Here are 10 top tips for making your food last longer, so you get the most for your money.
Ignore the best before dates and use your judgement about when a food is no longer to your liking. Any label other than “use by” does not impact food safety and is purely cosmetic.
Storage: learn which foods go together, so they don’t spoil each other. Keep bananas and tomatoes away from other fruits. Learn the temperature zones of your fridge, so each item stays at the best temperature for it.
Decant your salad greens into a container with a paper towel to soak up the moisture instead of leaving them in a plastic bag.
Love your leftovers: fried rice, pizza, puff pastry, or rice paper rolls are all easy bases for any spare veggies or meat. They are crowd pleasers for kids, too, because they can help with the assembly.
If you have any vegetable that’s not your favourite, like a broccoli stalk, grate it instead of chopping it.
Next Level
Meal plan: before you go to the store, take a pic of the inside of your pantry and fridge if you’re someone who tends to forget which ingredients you already have. Write your menu for the week before you grocery shop, so you know exactly what needs to be on your shopping list and can buy foods that work for more than one meal.
Bake with it: milk on its last life works like buttermilk in baking. Bananas or brown avocado are great egg substitutes. Bruised fruit is perfect tucked into a puff pastry sheet, tart, or jam. If you are bulk-buying fruits this time of year while they’re less expensive, wash and freeze them now for your smoothies or baking all year round.
Enthusiasts
Lemons: Use your lemon rinds in a cleaning solution or pickle them.
Soup stock: make your own bone broth by boiling bones and vegetable peels.
Milk: turn it into yoghurt, butter, labneh, or mozzarella instead of letting it go to waste.
