When I was asked to sign up to the No Waste Within campaign I had no problem saying ‘yes!’ because it epitomizes not just the way I feel about food waste when blogging, but food waste completely.
No Waste Within is a campaign started within the food-blogging community to cut down on the amount of, and ultimately eliminate, food waste created by the development, cooking, styling and photographing of recipes. In the case of The Happy Food Kitchen I can assure you all the food you see on this blog and also my Instagram was completely eaten by my family or visiting friends. I only make and snap food which we really eat – in fact most of the time it’s hard to get a picture of it before someone tucks into it! I don’t employ any special techniques to make my photos such as hairsprays for shine and non-edible bulkers. I want you to make my recipe and end up with a same plate of food as you see on my site.
You may also notice me referring to freezing or using up leftovers – because that’s what I really do! If I have rice leftover from a meal I freeze it for a quick side next time or make vegetable fried rice for the kids with it. If there is mash spare then it will be used as a pie topper or in fish cakes. Either way it won’t go in the bin. Look out for more compilation posts from me detailing this.
I also make sure to check the contents of my fridge before shopping and meal planning. This way I can construct meals around what food is close to its use-by date or needs to eaten. Often this means throwing a lot of it together to make a soup or curry. Often these inventive meals are actually my favourites! Far from being a problem, I think approaching food which needs to be used is inspirational and forces you to think outside the box a little.
I am more than happy to sign up to the following pledge:
“I promise that no food waste was created by the development, cooking, styling and photographing of this recipe and that, where it wasn’t possible for me to enjoy it myself, I have redistributed, re-purposed, retained or recycled the food.”
