Freeze!

Despite the recent rise in grocery costs, an estimated 8.3 million tonnes of household food waste is still produced each year in the UK, most of which could have been eaten (WRAP 2010).

The main factors that lead to high household food wastage is due to:
- Overbuying and not using food in time
- Inadequate storage of food
- Over-sized portions
- Confusion over food date labels, use by and best before

Not only does this waste good food and cost us money, it has an adverse impact on the environment. One way of curbing this wastage, whilst saving you time and money is to get re-acquainted with your freezer.

Recent research commissioned by theNewIceAge.com http://www.thenewiceage.com/ identified that when it came to wastage, when cooking with fresh food there was 36.77% more waste than when cooking from frozen.
This is because when cooking with frozen food it is easy to control portion size, simply take only what you need and return the rest to the freezer. Unlike fresh food, which is stored in the fridge or store cupboard, it is also impossible for bacteria to multiply on frozen food (making it safer than any other form of food preservation), meaning you get the most out of your food by using it in time.

But many people assume that whatever they cook fresh is healthier than frozen, but this is not necessarily the case. Did you know that frozen vegetables have been proven to often contain more Vitamin C than ‘fresh’ vegetables. This is particularly true when ‘fresh’ vegetables have been left languishing unloved and unnoticed in your fridge or cupboard. Apparently 'Fresh' spinach loses 77% of its Vitamin C after just two days, but when 'flash frozen', the process which freezes water in the food into smaller ice crystals and minimizes cell structure damage, the nutrients and vitamins are naturally ‘locked in’ with no need for preservatives.

Celebrity chef, Aldo Zilli is also a keen supporter of frozen food and incorporates frozen food into his award-winning meals, which he serves daily at his Soho restaurant Zilli Fish.
Zilli says, “Cooking with frozen does not mean lowering ones standards on freshness or nutritional value. On the contrary, frozen can often be fresher, especially when dealing with seafood and fish,” he goes on to comment that with the British consumer being very financially mindful and environmentally conscious, “frozen food allows consumers certain luxuries without comprising on taste, lowering wastage and ensuring great value for money.”

As well as ready frozen produce, your freezer is fabulous when storing chilled meals to be used at a later date. Just look out for the ‘suitable for home freezing’ logo on the packaging, then simply pop on a Count On It label http://www.count-on-it.co.uk/ and mark off the date when it has to be used by – it’ll usually say ‘Can be frozen on day of purchase and kept up to 3 months’ or similar – so, if you bought it today (27 May) just pop on a Count On It label and scratch-off the date 27 August – job done.

And finally, don’t forget your freezer for storing your leftovers, batch-cooked meals and split portions in. Leftovers make a fantastic quick and easy meal, just pop the uneaten leftovers in a storage tub and put on a Count On It label so you can keep track of when it was first prepared and stored. Or to give yourself a night off from cooking, when preparing the days meal simply cook a larger portion than is required and freeze the rest, one meal for now, another for later. Finally, the dreaded ‘buy one, get one free’ or bulk purchases, again save yourself time, money and waste – just split the pack, put some in the fridge and the rest in the freezer – you’ll have food to hand whenever you need it and you’ll have saved yourself a trip to the supermarket and some money into the bargain.

So there we have it, your freezer – your ally in the war against waste.

To see how comedian Sue Perkins gets to grips with her freezer, here is a great little clip from the LoveFoodHateWaste website – enjoy.http://www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/about_food_waste/sue_perkins_.html