{"id":13136,"date":"2019-11-29T09:00:56","date_gmt":"2019-11-29T09:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gousto.co.uk\/blog\/?p=13136"},"modified":"2025-05-23T10:54:28","modified_gmt":"2025-05-23T09:54:28","slug":"reduce-christmas-food-waste","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gousto.co.uk\/blog\/reduce-christmas-food-waste","title":{"rendered":"How To Reduce Your Christmas Food Waste"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]\u2018Tis the season to eat, drink and be merry and for many of us, that means making enough roast turkey to feed a small army and eating ourselves into a cosy Christmas-food-coma before 3pm. And while there’s nothing at all wrong with that, I often find myself looking at the dining table spilling over with food and wondering – how are we ever going to eat all this!? And the truth is – my family and I rarely (if ever) end up eating it all. And according to research from Love Food Hate Waste, we’re not the only ones…<\/p>\n

Research from Love Food Hate Waste shows that we consume around 10 million turkeys in the UK every Christmas and spend just over \u00a320 per person serving up a perfect roast dinner with all the trimmings. But our eyes are usually bigger than our stomachs, and the average household ends up throwing away more than a million tonnes of roast dinners every year. That\u2019s bad for the environment and for our bank balances – collectively we waste \u00a394 million, and that\u2019s just on gravy! Food Waste Is A Global Problem<\/a>, and tackling it is a cause that\u2019s close to our hearts.<\/p>\n

If you want to make a difference to your household food waste this Christmas, try adopting some of these eco-friendly habits.<\/p>\n

Plan ahead<\/h2>\n

The number one thing you can do to lower your food waste over Christmas is to plan ahead and resist the urge to impulse buy. Work out how much food you\u2019ll need – especially if you\u2019re hosting (and remember your guests will probably bring some food with them) – and make a shopping list. Try not to get drawn in by Christmas offers. And don\u2019t shop on an empty stomach!<\/p>\n

Look at the use-by dates<\/h2>\n

Especially when buying meat, dairy, or other fresh produce, check out that use-by date to make sure you won\u2019t have to throw it away before you need it. And remember that most fruit and veg will last longer if you store it properly<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Make friends with your freezer<\/h2>\n

If you find yourself with leftovers or excess food, there are a surprising amount of classic Christmas dishes that you can seal and freeze for later. Bread sauce, turkey, Stilton, roast potatoes, mince pies, vegetables\u2026 even wine! Just make sure you label the packets with the date you made it, so you know how long it\u2019s been in the freezer. For a full list of freezable foods and tips on how best to package them, here\u2019s Love Food Hate Waste to the rescue<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Give it away<\/h2>\n

If you have friends or family members staying over for the Christmas period, send them away with arms full of your excess food. You can also turn your leftovers into new year gifts! Ferment, preserve and pickle your fruit and veg – kimchi is especially popular at the moment – all you need is a mason jar and it\u2019ll look trendy as hell.<\/p>\n

Let us do the planning for you<\/h2>\n

Remember that first tip? You don\u2019t have to do all the hard work yourself! Choose your dinners for the week from our weekly changing menu, and we\u2019ll measure all the ingredients for you and send them to your door. That means cutting down on your food waste and on time spent in the supermarket queues. This year we\u2019ll even have Christmas Dinner on the menu\u2026 which you can make in under an hour!<\/p>\n

Looking for other ways to reduce food waste? Check out more of our sustainability blog posts, such as 12 Food Scraps You Didn\u2019t Know Were Edible.\u00a0<\/a>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]\u2018Tis the season to eat, drink and be merry and for many of us, that means making enough roast turkey to feed a small army and eating ourselves into a cosy Christmas-food-coma before 3pm. And while there’s nothing at all wrong with that, I often find myself looking at the dining table spilling over … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “How To Reduce Your Christmas Food Waste”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":41,"featured_media":13192,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"yes","footnotes":""},"categories":[799,643],"tags":[114,180,812],"class_list":["post-13136","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-christmas","category-sustainability","tag-christmas","tag-food-waste","tag-save-scraps"],"acf":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/gousto.gurucloud.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Christmas-food-waste-blog-scaled.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"Sophie","author_link":"https:\/\/www.gousto.co.uk\/blog\/author\/sophie"},"yoast_head":"\nHow To Reduce Your Christmas Food Waste | Gousto Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"At Christmas, I often look at the mountains of food and think - how are we ever going to eat all this!? 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