WEEK 3 - Love Food Hate Waste Challenge
How and where we store food will help keep it fresh and safe to eat for as long as possible. But it’s not a one size fits all. If you understand how to store your food to maximise its life, you will cut waste, save money and save time.
# Week 3: Storing food for freshness
Bananas and bread are two of the top wasted foods in Australia, but this can easily be avoided using these handy storage tips.
Bananas: Purchase bananas at different stages of ripeness so they don’t all ripen at once. Store bananas at room temperature while they ripen, then they can go in the fridge (although the skin will turn black) or be chopped up and frozen to use in smoothies or baking. Keep your bananas separate from other fruit to avoid waste, unless you want to speed up their ripening process (e.g. bananas can quickly ripen hard avocados).
Bread: Store bread in a cool dry place such as a bread box or the pantry or freeze it. Frozen bread can last several months in the freezer and can easily be defrosted and toasted. If your bread has turned stale, blitz it into breadcrumbs and use it up, or freeze it.
- Search the Love Food Hate Waste A-Z food storage guide for storage tips and bonus recipes.
- Pantry or freezer labels are a great tool so you can quickly identify what’s in that jar or container, and what to use first. Use a label maker, write on some masking tape, or print this freezer label template.
- Store food in airtight transparent containers. You don’t have to spend a fortune on containers. Old jars can be repurposed for your pantry or fridge by washing jars and removing sticky labels with eucalyptus oil and warm water.
The challenge
The freezer is your friend in your fight against food waste.
This week freeze some leftovers, fruits, vegetables, or even an entire meal. Who doesn’t love coming home to a ready-made home cooked meal and taking a night off cooking! Don’t forget to label your frozen goods with the name of item and the date when it was frozen.
Let us know how you chilled this week’s challenge.
Share your progress with us by tagging @QldEnvironment
and using #FoodWasteChallenge #qldenvironment on Facebook!
Did you know?
The Australian economy loses $36.6 billion per year due to food waste.
Households account for around 50 per cent of this. By the end of the decade, Australia has a national target to halve food waste.
Click here for more resources and information on the challenge.
