How to reduce food waste with the littles

With 4.4M potatoes, 3.1M glasses of milk and 2.7M carrots being thrown out in the UK daily*, The Refill shop in Leighton Buzzard and Happy Little Eaters give their tips for minimising food waste during Food Waste Action Week 6th-12th March 2023. 

'Family style’ meals

Grace, from Happy Little Eaters, encourages ‘family style’ meals, or in other words, deconstructed dishes. She suggests, ‘Rather than pre-plating your child’s meal, let them help themselves to the food on offer in the middle of the table, as not only does this foster trust and independence and children feel less pressure, it is easier to put leftover food back into Tupperware for the next day rather than trying to save any mushed up items on their plate! It is also worth remembering that whilst we don’t want to waste food, this unfortunately is all part of our kids learning to try new flavours and we shouldn’t feel guilt over that'.

LEFTOVERS

Grace adds, 'If you get chance to freeze any leftovers into ice cube trays (a new sauce or soup for example) you can take one out to add alongside your child’s regular meal to start exposing them used to new flavours and dishes slowly. That way, you haven’t wasted a whole lot of food, but they’ve still been exposed to something new to widen their range'.

PLAN WITH A MEAL!

Not only does meal planning take away the daily decisions on what to cook for the family and reduce the mental load, it uses up ingredients that may have otherwise gone to rot in the fridge! ‘If planning for a week feels too overwhelming to start, try 2-3 days see how you feel’, Grace recommends.

‘WIN. DON’T BIN’

Owner of The Refill, Heni, explains that her customers love the fact they can come to our shop and get the exact quantities they need, rather than purchasing a large packet of nuts, seeds or flour in the supermarket for example, with it often going to waste. ‘Parents come into the shop and buy something new to experiment at home, so if it's not a winner with the kids, they don’t feel as annoyed that they haven’t spent more on a larger amount!'

Even if we decide to do just one of these points, whether it is offering food deconstructed, reusing leftovers, planning our meals more or using our local refill shop, collectively, we can make a big change for the better. 

(*figures from action charity Wrap)