Norfolk and Suffolk residents urged to accept Food Savvy mission to reduce food waste and serve another day

25 Jul 2023

Households across Norfolk and Suffolk are being urged to sign up for a mission to do their bit to protect the planet and help get the best out of salad and vegetables.

Mission Food Savvy is targeting these items in the war on waste as they are some of the most thrown away foods in the two counties. 

The summer campaign promotes savvy ways to store salad and vegetables to keep them fresher to be savoured another day; or send them undercover in delicious dishes to make sure nothing goes to waste.

Using a fun, hero agent theme, the campaign reveals how everything from tomatoes to cucumbers, carrots to broccoli, can escape the waste bin through better planning, storing and cooking.

Mission Food Savvy is the latest in the well-established Food Savvy campaign, run jointly by Norfolk County Council and Suffolk Waste Partnership. The campaign inspires households to reduce food waste by:

• planning meals before shopping to ensure nothing goes to waste
• keeping vegetables and salads in optimal condition by storing them correctly
• getting creative with leftovers and send spare veg undercover into other dishes.

Suffolk Waste Partnership and Norfolk County Council work together on the Food Savvy campaign.

Rob Cole of the Suffolk Waste Partnership, said:

“Households in Norfolk and Suffolk throw away enough food in a year to fill Norwich Castle almost 25 times over, or 155 Bury St Edmunds cathedrals. What we are challenging people to do is to make it their mission to plan what they need and not waste food or money.”

Councillor Eric Vardy, Norfolk County Council cabinet member for Environment and Waste, said:

"The average household wastes over two months’ worth of food each year - that's more than £700. Reducing food waste is good for the planet and our pockets, especially as many of us are working hard to make our budgets stretch further. We hope residents embrace our Food Savvy mission and are inspired to use up their leftovers."

The average household wastes over two months’ worth of food each year (around £730).

As well as financial savings there are environmental savings too. If everyone in the UK stopped throwing away food for just one day it would be the same as taking 14,000 cars off the road for a whole year.

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