Redbridge offers FREE cookery demo with professional chef for Food Waste Action Week
Published: 13 March 2024
In support of Food Waste Action Week and to raise awareness of the harmful impact of food waste, Redbridge Council is running a FREE cookery event in the borough for local people.
Join the Council’s Neighbourhood Team and professional chef Mark Borrell to sharpen up your culinary skills and learn how to cook with leftovers. Discover how to make nutritious, filling meals out of some of the most common foods items found lingering in the fridge.
FREE cookery session:
Tuesday 19 March, 12pm-3pm. The Loft on Level 3 in the Ilford Exchange Mall, High Road Ilford.
During the three-hour live cookery demonstration the team will also be sharing recipes and top tips on food storage, reducing food waste, and saving money whilst eating well for less.
The event is suitable for all cooking levels and confidence levels and there’s no need to book a place, just turn up. Don’t forget to grab your free reusable containers and measuring tools being given away after the session!
Got a little too much on your plate? Lots of us do, with a large amount of the food we buy or make ending up in the bin. Wasting food costs you money, and feeds climate change.
Last year over 29,000 tonnes of food waste was collected from wheelie bins in the borough.
National waste prevention group WRAP estimates that up to 73% of food waste produced nationally could have been saved from the bin as it was edible. This means in Redbridge alone, we threw away the equivalent of up to 42 million roast dinners last year.
Everything we throw away has an impact on our environment and contributes to climate change. Because it’s not just the food we’re wasting – it’s the resources that go into producing it that get wasted too.
Shaheen, a mum of two from Barkingside, said: “I think the cookery demo is a great way to learn about food waste and what we can do as a community to prevent it. Also, it’s not often you get a chance to pick up tips from a professional chef!
“As a family we try to do our bit to reduce food waste by only buying what we need, and not making food portion sizes too big when putting it on the plate. The food on our plate is not just from our hard-earned money, there is also a chain of hard working people behind it from growing food to processing, and then bringing into the stores for us to buy. If we waste food all their hard work and the resources used will also be wasted.
“I think it’s really important to reduce all types of waste, including food waste, because of the harmful effects of it on our planet. It’s our responsibility to take care of the world around us, and we all have a duty towards that.”
There are lots of ways to cut back on food waste, and if you don’t make it to the cookery session here’s a few tips to get you started:
Portion planning and buying
Make a shopping list to help you stick to only buying what you need, and when it comes to mealtimes, serve the right amount of food. Why not try this useful portion planner to help with serving sizes: https://lovefoodhatewaste.com/portion-planner
Fridge optimisation
Did you know that your fridge should be below 5°C? In fact, the average UK fridge temperature is set at a way too hot 7°C. This is terrible news for milk and other food items kept in the fridge, which can perish quickly when not stored at the right temperature.
Find out more about fridge temperatures on: https://www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/article/chill-fridge-out?_ga=2.190044905.317125162.1612275985-2076548065.1588605611
Date labels
Do you know the difference between ‘Use By’, ‘Best Before’ and ‘Display Until /Sell By’ dates? Check this guide to clear up any confusion with date labels, and to make sure you’re not throwing away food unnecessarily:
https://www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/about-date-labels
Using up leftovers
Why not explore lots of tasty recipes from Love Food, Hate Waste, many of which can be used from leftovers that you might already have. Save money and the planet by checking the recipes out on: https://www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/recipes
Food storage
Not sure where to store foods to make them last longer? Unsure of what you can and can’t freeze, and what the correct way of defrosting is? Find out this and much more in Love Food, Hate Waste’s A-Z of food storage: https://lovefoodhatewaste.com/article/food-storage-a-z
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