How To Reduce Food Waste In Our Households (And Why It Matters)
Why it’s a global problem and how we can begin to tackle it at home. Includes 11 easy ideas to reduce waste.
I’ve inherited an obsession with food wastage.
My mum grew up in a family of 10 in Malaysia. To feed the ‘clan’, my grandma would load a big bowl with steaming rice mashed with beef potato meatballs — then spoonfeed each kid in turn. Much like a pelican feeds its little ones.
When I was young and left rice on my plate, mum told me off by repeating what her dad taught her — not a grain of rice should be left behind. With 12 mouths to feed (including he and my grandma), I can understand where he was coming from.
Now, many years after I’ve left home, I can’t help eating everything on my plate — though I may be full. So in between the pre-conditioned “Eat everything on your plate”, I urge my daughter to “Stop when you’re full ok?”, and “Take only as much as you can eat”.
Poor confused kid.
So the thing is, I thought I did enough to avoid wasting food. Yet what I often forget is that food wastage is about far more than eating what’s on my plate.
