The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has launched a new campaign to encourage people to take a “simple action” to reduce food waste, by freezing surplus food before its use-by date.
A recent EPA survey, conducted by Behaviour & Attitudes, found that 68% of people still say ‘passing use-by dates’ is the top reason they throw out food at home.
The EPA suggest that freezing food is an “easy way to stop wasting food and save money”. Food waste currently costs the average Irish household up to €700 per year.
Freezing surplus food before it passes the use-by date can help both the environment and your budget, according to Mary Frances Rochford, programme manager in the Office of Environmental Sustainability at the EPA.
“We are calling on everyone to support and share our ‘Eat It or Freeze It’ campaign on social media, and take a simple action to stop food waste,” she said.
“Irish households produce over 250,000t of food waste per year, at a cost of €700 per household.
In addition, wasted food is a significant contributor to climate change – responsible for about 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Cutting food waste reduces greenhouse gas emissions and provides real savings for householders.
Environmental scientist at the EPA, Odile Le Bolloch, explains:
“If you don’t get to eat it, freezing food is an action we can start straight away.
“Over half of people do not realise that you can freeze food right up to its use-by date, but many of us can reduce our food waste through freezing. It is a great way to make food last longer – it acts just like a pause button, allowing food to be eaten at another time.”
The EPA advises that a lot of different types of food can be frozen, whether it’s the “extra loaf of bread you bought or the cooked pasta you want to use for lunch later in the week”.