Plan your festive feasts early and reduce food waste

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Plan your festive feasts and reduce food waste.

The festive season is fast approaching and it is never too early to start planning the special meals that will be shared with family and friends.

When we gather for a festive season dinner, lunch or breakfast, food is often at the heart of the celebration. The spirit of sharing and the excitement of the celebration can mean we end up buying and preparing too much food. Often this results in wasted food that is thrown in the bin and ends up in landfill, creating methane gas.

By planning ahead, developing a detailed shopping list, and thinking twice before throwing away leftovers, you can enjoy your festive celebration, save money, and reduce your impact on our environment.

Top five tips this festive season

To reduce food waste in your home follow the top five Love Food Hate Waste tips this festive season:

Plan your celebration meals
With so many new and delicious recipes as well as all the traditional favourites, it is important to plan your menu. Planning your meals will help you to save time, money and reduce the amount of food that is thrown away.
Write a shopping list
By writing a shopping list, based on your menu plan, you will be less likely to be tempted by specials, deals and impulse purchases. A good shopping list will take into account what you already have in your fridge, freezer and cupboard and will help you stay focused on what you need to buy. During the festive season there are lots of specials and deals. Sometimes these deals can be great value, provided they are what you need and you know you will be able to use them. Always remember to check 'use by' and 'best before' dates when choosing items.
Measure your serving sizes
It can be tricky to estimate how much to prepare when we will be hosting family and friends. It is important to get the serving size per person right as we often over cater. The Love Food Hate Waste serving size calculator will help you work out quantities of food items for the number of guests attending.
Store your food correctly
During the festive season the fridge never seems big enough. Try not to overload your fridge - maintaining the recommended temperature of 3-4 degrees celsius and good air flow is important to keep your food longer and for food safety. Remember to check the recommended storage instructions on food packaging and store items in your freezer when appropriate.
Use your leftovers
Each year NSW households throw away $694 million worth of leftovers. If you have leftovers make sure that you use them for another meal rather than putting them in the bin or compost. Many dishes taste even better the next day. Make sure that you store your leftovers in airtight containers in the fridge to keep them fresher for longer.

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Note: The Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water NSW is now known as the Office of Environment and Heritage, Department of Premier and Cabinet. This change took effect 4 April 2011.