Its a strange time for all of us but there are some advantages. I recently read a post on “Lockdown, leftovers and how food frugality is a climate boon” by Christopher Walljasper and Nigel Hunt.
They show that because people are in their homes and can’t get out as freely, they are cooking and eating everything, scrounging through cupboards, fridges and freezers and everything is being consumed. Whereas pre Covid the leftovers were often discarded in favour of fast food.
That option has gone for most people so now we are reducing our food wastage. The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation estimates that a third of the world’s food is wasted every year. Forests are cleared, fuel is burnt and packaging is produced just to provide food which is thrown away. Meanwhile, rotting food in landfills releases more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
As a result, food waste is responsible for around 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions, a similar amount to road transportation. People are taking this opportunity to adopt less wasteful habits in life after lockdown.
Consumers have become more organised in planning menus, developed new cooking skills, checked their cupboards and fridges more before they shop and found better ways to use up leftovers. Shops that sell seeds and plants have sold more as people are choosing to grow their own more and more.
Fresh eggs from chickens, home grown vegetables with herbs and spices are becoming the new ‘norm’ for a lot of people. The discussion is that these new practices will stay after the Covid 19 virus is supposedly defeated by new vaccines, whether they are mandatory or not.
Our habits have changed. This is great news for the climate. This will probably be the next crisis. What can we do to reduce this?
We all saw the news where because of lockdown and less people out of their houses – Venice reported cleaner water in the city, China reported less air pollution, and the UK report major environmental changes to reduce the climate crisis.
People are using their cars less – and for example electric scooters are being used more. They are being used for shopping and commuting. I know because that’s what I now use mine for.
A survey from Germany’s Food and Agriculture Ministry showed consumers had started to show more concern about wasting food during covid.
The government had launched an anti-food waste campaign called “Too good for the bin” before the crisis, urging the public not to automatically throw food away after the sell-by date but to smell and taste it to see if it was still in good condition.
The ministry’s survey, undertaken during the pandemic, found that 91% of German consumers questioned were now checking food after its sell-by date and not automatically throwing it away. Food waste is not restricted to the home but it is the biggest source in many countries.
Now there are zero-waste cooking seminars which show users creative ways to use leftovers. Online cooks simmer a delicious soup made from cauliflower leaves live on the internet.
Of course the easiest way to have zero-waste is to be a carnivore.
The egg shells will give you calcium – just chew away. Great if you have osteoporosis. Eat meat. Beef. Recycle the plastic tray or just buy it from the butcher.
What else is there to say except “please pass the salt”.
