That's a wrap! | #FoodSavvy

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This post is an ad for Environmental Charity Hubbub as a part of their Food Savvy campaign.

It's been 4 weeks since the start of the #FoodSavvy challenge and it's time to reflect on my food waste journey. If you read my previous post, you'll know how much I struggled during the second week of the challenge. The amount of food I wasted for the week totalled 1.8kg, which was shocking. For the past 2 weeks, i've really tried to be more conscious of my food choices and be more aware of what I was wasting in order to try and minimise it for the final week of the challenge. Want to know how I got on? Drum roll please...

My food waste total for this week was only 80g, RESULT! 

So what did I do differently this week to reduce my food waste by so much? Well, as simple as it sounds, I meal planned! and stuck to it!  I also didn't meal plan for the whole 7 days, because I knew this wasn't realistic because my plans usually change during the week and by leaving a few gaps it meant that I could easily fill them.  This is one of the tips the lovely gang at hubbub gave me, and it worked a treat! I also ordered my food online from Ocado, rather than going in to a supermarket. This meant that I wasn't tempted to purchase random things, because I was 'hangry' whist walking around. I had my list on me and stuck to it. Shopping online also allowed me to keep tabs on how much I was spending, which was definitely a plus! Most online supermarkets have discounts for first time customers, and so as a first time customer at Ocado I got 30% off my food shop and free delivery for a year! 

Armed with my freshly delivered groceries, meal plan and handy devices from Lakeland and IKEA, I knew I was going to smash my food waste target this week. The best product I received was the Banana Bag from Lakeland. I only really like eating bananas that are just on the verge of ripeness, and I often find  that with bananas you only have about 2 hours of that optimum point before they go mushy. But this Banana Bag has changed the game. I have stored my bananas in here for a whole week now and they still look as fresh as the day I bought them.

My biggest tip from the challenge is to make enough of your evening meal to take for lunch the next day. Not only does it prevent food waste, but it also saves a lot of time in the morning trying to prepare sandwiches and is so much more cost effective than purchasing lunch on the go! I also received a snazzy new lunch box from IKEA, which is the grey FLOTTIG lunch box, so it made preparing my lunch for the following day so much better. One of the products that I didn't really get much use out of this week was the Berry Keeper. but this was mainly because I didn't need to purchase any berries or soft fruit this week, and I didn't want to buy the fruit (and potentially make more food waste because of it!) if I knew I wasn't going to eat them. I'll definitely try using the Berry Keeper when the weather gets warmer though, as for me, berries are definitely a Summer fruit. 

I've really enjoyed taking the #FoodSavvy challenge for the past 4 weeks and I'm really proud at how much I managed to reduce my food waste by. In the next few weeks I'm going to aim to have no food waste at all! Wish me luck. I'd also like to say a big thank you to the hubbub team and Norfolk and Suffolk councils for having me take part in this challenge and for all the guidance they have given me over the past few weeks. I've learnt so much and i'm really looking forward to continuing my journey. The next stop for me is reducing my single use plastic! 

How have you found the #FoodSavvy challenge?

xo