Food for thought

As we indulge into the festive madness, it’s worth sparing a thought for the underprivileged. Whether it’s Thanksgiving, Halloween, Christmas or New Years, it’s a great time to get loved ones together, to feast together and be merry. But there are simple ways to be more mindful of the needy by avoiding wastage of perfectly good food.

Start with planning your festive meals out – do we need to hoard? Running a quick inventory check is a great way to plan ahead too – I often find plenty of unused tinned or frozen food that I have overbought. Think about ways to minimise wastage of ‘useless’ ingredients like potato peels and cauliflower stalks – can we do something funky to jazz them up? A friend once made me potato peels stir-fried in mayonnaise – total winner!

If you are the type who has to oversupply for get-togethers, can the excess food be distributed around to family and friends? My personal choice is to investigate any food banks, charities, religious institutions, etc. close by to donate good quality food. Organisations like The Felix Project help collect excess food from mass supermarkets, suppliers and even individuals to redistribute to the needy.

So… this festive season let’s go beyond feasting ourselves, let’s do it for all.