A Week in the Life of a Food Waste expert

Which is where guidance from those who are seriously in the know can help — those like Dr Mark Boulet, our environment portfolio lead and resident expert on all things food waste. Our busy working, social and parenting lives can make a new approach to food feel daunting, but as Mark shows us, even small habits can add up.

Read on to see how a verified waste expert goes about the day-to-day, with all its many and competing demands, to ensure minimal food waste in his own home. And feel free to make his habits your own. 

‍

MONDAY

We had a big cook on the weekend and my wife made an amazing peanut soup. I work from home on Monday and my plan is to always have leftovers for lunch.

I added a sachet of pre-cooked rice to the soup today. These sachets are the perfect quantity of rice which means I don’t make more than I need. So much food waste at home comes from cooking more than we need and not eating leftovers.

‍

‍

TUESDAY

On Tuesdays I do a sort through our fridge and organise the shelves. Doing this on a weekly basis is a great way to discover any leftover meals and other ingredients that might have been pushed to the back (and can easily be forgotten until it’s too late). For a while, the Use it Up Tape from OzHarvest helped our family with this task, but it’s now become a habit.   

‍

WEDNESDAY

Morning tea and coffee is a ritual at home (although I do worry I have become a horrible coffee snob). The tea leaves and coffee grounds are great for our home compost bin. As much as possible, we try to use the compost only for tea leaves, coffee grounds, food scraps, peels, and skins. With good planning and eating leftovers, we avoid putting food into the compost that could have been eaten.

‍

THURSDAY

I did a quick food shop after work today to re-stock some items. I called my kids at home before I started shopping to double-check on what we already have in the fridge and pantry. This avoids doubling up and potential waste. (We once had 4 kgs of desiccated coconut in the pantry because for three weeks we kept throwing another packet in the trolley!) 

We don’t tend to do the traditional ‘big’ weekly shop at our house because luckily our supermarket is five minutes away. We also find that more frequent ‘medium’ shops make it more likely that we’ll buy what we need and will actually get through.

‍

FRIDAY

Fried-Egg Friday! My wife is a great cook and has the confidence and skills to create the most incredible meals from leftovers in the fridge. I definitely don’t have this same talent, but I have found that adding a fried egg to leftover curries or stir-fries is really delicious — and something the kids love.

Alternatively, a cheeky takeaway with some leftover salad is both a treat for the family and a great way to use up leftover salad ingredients to avoid food waste.

‍

SATURDAY / SUNDAY

The pace on the weekends is a little slower. This means we can make some bigger meals, or do a little batch cooking for the week ahead. Having a bit of a plan for when specific meals will be served in the coming week is important to make sure they will actually get eaten, rather than left to perish in the fridge or freezer. 

And labelling Tupperware containers of food before they go into the freezer is important; otherwise we have no idea what they are a week later.

‍

Don't forget the takeaways...

Here are a few to help guide your own efforts:

- Make a weekly meal plan that incorporates food needing to be used up (including a 'use it up' meal made up of whatever's leftover).
- Conduct a weekly spot check of the content of your fridge and freezer (this will help with the above). Choose a spot in the fridge for anything that needs using up.
- Before you cook or make a meal plan, check who will be eating to make sure you make the right amount.
- Make a shopping list and stick to it. Alternatively, do smaller shops during the week to adhere more closely to what you actually need. 

‍

‍