Summer picnic tips to save food waste

This summer many people will be planning a picnic in the beautiful Shropshire countryside but Love Food Hate Waste is reminding us that picnics don’t have to cost the earth.

Every year in the UK people throw out millions of tonnes of edible food which would be perfect for picnics including; 5 million potatoes, 1.1 million bananas, nearly 3 million tomatoes, 200,000 packs of unopened crisps, 70,000 cakes and 1 million slices of ham.  Most of this ends up being buried in landfill sites where it rots and produces pollution.

In fact picnics are a great way to use up lovely leftovers from the fridge.  So people can save money and reduce food waste if they take some simple steps.  Here are the council’s top tips for a waste free picnic this summer:

• Use a cool box or cool bag, with ice packs, to help keep food fresh.
• Pack a few extra airtight containers before leaving the house.  Any leftovers keep much better if kept in a container rather than left to go soggy in their packets.
• Did you know you can freeze cheese?  If you grate it before freezing, and then make sandwiches straight from the bag – it will defrost by the time you are ready to eat.
• Over-ripe fruit?  Any types of fruit including bananas, mangos, apples and strawberries can be blitzed into healthy smoothies.
• If you cooked too much pasta the night before, simply stir in some mayonnaise and keep in the fridge for a perfect pasta salad.
• If fresh lemons are looking past their best, just dice them up with some sugar and sparkling water to make a refreshing lemonade.