Four households are being sought from across Yorkshire and the Humber to become ‘Food Lovers’ and take on a tasty Love Food, Hate Waste challenge.
Four households are being sought from across Yorkshire and the Humber to become ‘Food Lovers’ and take on a tasty Love Food, Hate Waste challenge.
The food lovers’ challenge will run from October 4 to November 28 and will see those involved working towards saving money, making the most of their food and helping the environment.
The challenge begins with each household keeping a food waste diary for a week to see how much is going in their bin before being treated to a ‘Food Lover’ makeover including: Love Food Hate Waste cookery lessons with one of the region’s top chefs, a personalised food surgery with tailored ideas on how to cut down on food waste and a ‘Food Waste Reducer’ goody pack to help people store their food safely for longer.
There will be help on hand to successful applicants from both the Love Food Hate Waste team and local councils, who are supporting the campaign across the region.
Once the transformation is complete, each household will return their diary to see how much they have now managed to cut their food waste by, and the household with the biggest savings will receive a luxury organic hamper.
Councillor Peter Burgess, portfolio holder for environment and the green agenda, said: “Love Food Hate Waste is the ‘Waste Not, Want Not’ of the modern day and reducing food waste in Yorkshire and the Humber is a big priority.
“Wasted food costs the average British family £50 every month or £680 per year for families with children and we’re not just talking about bread crusts and potato peelings. An astonishing 8.3 million tonnes of food is thrown away by households in the UK every year; 5.3 million tonnes of which is perfectly good food that has just not been eaten in time, or too much was cooked and the remainder thrown away.
“That’s like filling 4,700 Olympic sized swimming pools!”
He added: “While the effects of this wasted food are shocking, Love Food Hate Waste shows you easy ways to help you eat well, save money and make your food go further by planning meals, checking stocks and building confidence in the kitchen.
“So we need households of all shapes and sizes and from across Yorkshire and Humber to take part. It doesn’t matter if you live in a one bedroom flats or a large detached house, and whether you are a big family with loads of kids, a shared household, a couple or live on your own.
“So you see, it really does pay to be a food lover!”
The deadline for applications is Friday, August 27. Successful households will be contacted shortly after.
If you are interested in taking part in the Food Lovers’ Challenge, call North East Lincolnshire Council’s waste and recycling team on (01472) 325843 or email joanna.boardman@nelincs.gov.uk for an application form.
For more information on the national campaign visit www.lovefoodhatewaste.com