The first post of this year comes at a time which is probably going to be unlike any other time we have experienced in our lives. I’m sure many people are like me and just find it difficult to comprehend the situation that we find ourselves in with the Covid-19 pandemic.
We have been advised to stay home as much as we possibly can and only go out for either food, exercise, essential work or to help the vulnerable. For my household that means myself and my 6 year old son at home. We are doing limited home schooling, with plenty of time for breaks and other ways to learn.
In terms of reducing waste that comes as a top priority in terms of food mainly. We are trying to not go out even for shopping (I always had a full freezer in the past as that is supposed to be the most economical way to run it) and I was fortunate enough to get a home delivery of shopping shortly before the lockdown. Added to that the food we already had in the cupboard and the fact that we were already getting milk deliveries to try and cut down on plastic waste, and I figure that we can survive for a fair while without having to go out. But that can only happen if we manage our food carefully and avoid any waste.
So the best way we are finding to do that is to make sure we eat all of the things that are going to go off first, whether that is what my son wants to eat or not! This last week there have been a few replies of ‘if you are hungry you will eat it!’ from me I’m afraid! It is a good lesson to learn though that food should not be wasted. My lunch often consists of what my son has left from his dinner the night before!
If something is going to go off, and this is mostly with fresh food, then it needs to be cooked and frozen. I ordered a small pack of green beans with my food delivery and got a large back so I blanched and froze the ones that I knew I was not going to use.
Bread is one thing that we don’t get through super quickly so I have had to freeze some of that in the bit of space that we had in the freezer.
In our area they have also stopped collecting the brown bins with garden waste (focusing on general rubbish is entirely the right thing to do) so any work in the garden means that waste needs to go on the compost heap. We have one set up (nothing fancy) so that is building up.
So I am hoping that no food will go to waste (we are also sharing some food with the elderly neighbours when they need it and will take some to my elderly mother) if we manage it properly.
