With major UK supermarkets announcing they are limiting the sales of certain fruit and vegetables, there has never been a better time to consider reducing your food waste.

In the last week, Asda and Morrisons have announced they are capping the sales of products such as tomatoes, peppers, lettuces and cucumbers, due to extreme weather in Spain and North Africa where floods, snow and hail have affected harvests.

According to the British Retail Consortium, the shortages are expected to last a few weeks until the UK growing season begins and retailers can find alternative sources of supply.

So, with supply chain issues having a knock-on effect on our supermarket shelves, what can we do to make our food go a little further and reduce the amount we’re putting in the bin?

Planning to perfection

One easy way to reduce waste is to try and not over-buy in the first place. Properly planning your meals for the week before going to the shops, so you know what you’re going to cook and what ingredients you need, is key to cutting waste.

It’s also a good idea to keep a track of what’s in your fridge, just in case you already have the fresh produce that you need. One fun way to do this is to take a ‘shelfie’ – a picture of your fridge shelves – so you know exactly what’s in there and you don’t buy what you don’t need.

Love your leftovers

If you and your family scrape your uneaten food into the bin each evening, then it’s time to rethink your approach to food sustainability. Leftover food can easily make a quick, cheap meal for the following day or you can even pop it in your freezer to make it last longer.

If you’re struggling with inspiration on what to do with your leftovers, BBC Good Food’s leftovers page provides some great advice on how to use excess food such as chicken, bread, lamb and bananas.

Don’t be fussy

Many UK supermarkets offer a ‘wonky’ fruit and vegetable range, a term used for produce that has been rejected for reasons such as being too small, too big, having cracks in the skin or being slightly the wrong colour.

Despite these imperfections, ‘wonky’ produce is still perfectly edible and tasty but would otherwise be thrown away if it wasn’t for the un-fussy consumer. So if your local supermarket offers it, why not choose these over the ‘perfect’ produce – as they say, never judge a book by its cover!

Check use-by dates

Another way to reduce your food waste is to check the use-by dates on items before putting them in your supermarket trolley. By doing this, you will expand the lifespan of the food in your fridge and cupboards, reducing the need to throw it away and buy more to replace it.

Additionally, it’s also a good idea to familiarise yourself with the difference between use-by dates and best before dates. Use-by dates are used to show when a product is no longer safe to eat, whereas best before dates relate to the freshness and overall quality of food.

With this in mind, best before dates often just provide a recommendation and food can be consumed past these dates. If you’re ever unsure use your sight, smell and taste to gauge if an item is still good to eat or would be best placed in the bin. In fact, The Co-op has recently announced that it will be removing best before dates from 150 of its items as part of plans to reduce food waste.

Here at Liquid, our Development Chef, Olivier, works to reduce food waste in our kitchens wherever possible and is always looking for new ways to do so – why not get in touch if you need some top tips?

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