Food waste, we can all play our part to reduce

So I will admit it, I am not the best at reducing food waste – I do have a worm farm for my organic waste but that’s about it.

I worked at Sustainability Victoria many years ago and in that short time I learnt about the amount of food waste we throw out each year - over 5 million tonnes of food ends up as landfill, according to the Department of Environment and Energy.

Recently I found out I am not supposed to even give food leftovers to my pet dog! When did that become a thing???

As a busy working person, I don’t have time to shop daily – the weekly supermarket shop is where I err on the side of ‘just in case’ instead of being more careful in what I buy and how much I buy. I do plan the weekly menu, but I am not perfect and so I often over buy and waste food.

I am doing my best to make positive changes to my shopping habits and my cooking commitments.

Foodbank is an amazing organisation – they rescue food from manufacturers, farmers, wholesalers and retailers.

Each year Foodbank distributes over 35 million kilograms of food and groceries nationally to charities. They provide the equivalent of over 183,000 meals a day. Foodbank accounts for 65% of all the food distributed to charities by food rescue organisations in Australia.

Donations include stock that’s out of specification, close to expiry or excess to requirements. Companies also make donations as part of a commitment to social responsibility or a cause-related marketing campaign.

In addition, Foodbank collaborates with farmers, manufacturers and transporters  to produce key staple foods such as rice and milk that don’t come in sufficient quantities via rescue channels.

I’m proud to be supporting the work of Foodbank in my home state of Victoria - $1 from every bag sold provides two meals for someone in need.

See the great work they do here, it will take less than two minutes of your day.