Suzanne, who hails from Winstanley, admits she’s always been a bit concerned about the supermarket ‘big shop’ and the amount of food the family would buy but never eat.
With daughter Grace, six, and son Joe, three, having their own likes and dislikes, Suzanne says it used to be a real balancing act to try and keep everyone happy.
“We would go to the supermarket and buy things we thought the children liked but sometimes they wouldn’t eat it, it would end up going off and we would have to throw it out.
“We would also be going back to the shops to stock up on things and buying more food on impulse which again was quite wasteful.
“We are concerned about the environment and the need to cut down on waste so we knew we that we could start to make a difference by cutting down on the amount we were throwing in the bin.”
When Suzanne was given the chance to keep a food diary as part of the recent Greater Manchester-wide Love Food, Hate Waste campaign, she jumped at the chance.
Suzanne, who works for the Wigan-based Tidy Britain organisation, was asked to put down on paper all the food the family bought and how it was used over a two week period.
The diary looked at the family’s shopping habits and eating patterns and when the project finished Suzanne admits she was a little bit taken aback with results.
“We calculated that wasted food could be costing us up to £100 every month,” she says. “We knew we had to do something about it.”
Sitting down as a family, the Strongs came up with a plan – a meal plan that is.
“Each Sunday we would plan what we would like to eat during the week. We tried to keep it as varied and as healthy as possible but we had to take into account what the children liked and wanted to eat,” says Suzanne.
Everyone played their part in the plan – with the children and husband Steve all doing their bit. “It does take a bit of time but it doesn’t have to be a chore and we made it into a family activity,” says Suzanne. “We’re all better off as a result. Our shopping trolley isn’t as full, our bill’s a lot smaller and we’re all eating better than ever.”
Wigan Council’s cabinet champion for lifestyles Cllr Paul Prescott believes reducing food waste is something we all should be committed to.
“It’s a scary fact but as a nation we throw away more than six million tonnes of food each year,” says Cllr Prescott.
“It costs the average family over £50 a month and is also really bad for the environment.
“If we stop wasting food that could have been eaten, the reduction in CO2 would be like taking one in five cars off the road.”
“We calculated that wasted food could be costing us up to £100 every month.
We knew we had to do something about it.”
You can find out more about the Love Food, Hate Waste campaign through the website: Love Food Hate Waste (external link)
