Food Waste Action Week

This weekNorth Yorkshire Rotters are on a mission to tackle food waste and its impact on climate change during Food Waste Action Week (March 1 to 7).

The Rotters are offering virtual talks on preventing food waste and home composting, and a campaign is being launched on the County Council’s social media accounts throughout the week.

Volunteer Coordinator Jeff Coates has come up with a list of top tips to combat food waste. These include:

1. Optimising storage – know how to store different foods to prolong their shelf life;
2. Portion planning – know how much of certain foods to serve as a portion to avoid cooking too much;
3. Compl-eat-ing – and using up every last bit of certain foods;
4. Freezing and defrosting safely – knowing what can be frozen and how to defrost it safely;
5. Fridge optimisation – setting the right temperature and using the correct shelving to prolong the life of food;
6. Understanding date labels – understanding ‘use by’ and ‘best before’ to ensure you’re not throwing away good food; and
7. Using up leftovers – getting creative and finding inspiration for using up leftovers.

County Councillor Andrew Lee, Executive Member for Waste Management, said: “We are pleased to get behind Food Waste Action Week which is a great way to raise awareness and encourage people to think about the food they are wasting.

“Before the pandemic our Rotters would attend events, schools, workshops and talks in the community so they have done really well in adapting to the more virtual ways of communicating with the public.

“I would encourage everybody to check out our social media pages throughout the week as we have some great tips which include getting more out of the food you buy and how best to store it.”

For more information please visit www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/fwaw. If your group would like to book a talk with the Rotters on home composting, Love Food Hate Waste campaign or Reduce, Reuse, Recycle please contact Jeff Coates on 01609 797212 or email nyrotters@northyorks.gov.uk