Make your freezer your festive friend

Everyone is being urged to cut down on food waste by making friends with their freezer this festive period.
The Love Food Hate Waste campaign, being backed in Herefordshire and Worcestershire, is calling on people to make better use of their freezer in the run up to Christmas.

Every year households in the UK throw away around £12 billion worth of food – approximately 7.2 million tonnes –almost all of which could have been eaten.

Most of this ends up in landfill, where it emits methane – a powerful greenhouse gas.

The campaign is encouraging people to reduce the amount of food they throw away by using their freezer more effectively. www.lovefoodhatewaste.com has lots of fabulous tips such as:

• Not throwing away Christmas food if you have made too much, pop it in a container in the fridge or freezer and eat at a later date.  You can enjoy Christmas treats long after the festivities have finished and  this tip will save you money and time too.
• Leftover party food such as quiches and sausage rolls can be frozen over Christmas and used in packed lunches for when you go back to work.
• Everyone stocks up on bread over the Christmas period, so remember to put some straight into the freezer.  It keeps perfectly for when you need it and you can also toast slices straight from frozen. 
• Multi-buys, offers and discounts can be good value, as long as you plan how to use the extra food.  Think about what festive meals you can cook with the food you buy and whether some of it could be frozen for later. Or what about sharing your bargains with family and friends?

Councillor Anthony Blagg, Worcestershire County Councils Cabinet Member for Environment and Waste Management said: “All sorts of food can be frozen and eaten later. The run up to Christmas is the perfect time of year for people to use up what’s stored in their freezer – not only will it save people money on their food bills and stop good food being thrown out, it will also make room for festive treats.”

To find out more useful tips about how to store food, tantalising Christmas recipes and advice on freezing this holiday season, visit www.lovefoodhatewaste.com