Families told food waste cut can save £1k a year

Families are being asked to reduce the amount of food they throw away after it was revealed their serviceable waste could be worth about £1,000 every year.

Guernsey Waste is encouraging people to find alternative ways to use food as part of its Love Food, Hate Waste campaign.

It said 60 tonnes of food waste was collected from households every week, and a lot of that came from buying too much and it going off, or it being stored incorrectly.

A free soup giveaway at Market Square, St Peter Port, on Monday had a focus on pumpkins and different recipes for over Halloween. Guernsey Waste said the autumnal vegetable was worth "so much more than just a carving in your window or on your doorstep".

"We've been here to promote Love Food, Hate Waste, and reduce the amount of food waste Guernsey produces," said Joe Hind, from Guernsey Waste.

"We're also trying to highlight that a pumpkin is so much more than just a carving in your window or on your doorstep," said Hind.

"It's a delicious vegetable that can be used for a multitude of things you can use every part of it."

Hind was serving soup alongside Ben Holland, from Benny's Plates.

"Pumpkins are in season at this time of year and so everybody wants to carve them up," said Holland.

"Rather than just sending them to the bin, we want to show that you can use them to make something really tasty."

He said pumpkins could be turned into all kinds of recipes, including soups, pie, curry, wedges, but could also be added to lattes and hot chocolates.

He added the response to the event had been "awesome".

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