Did you know that food businesses in NSW throw away nearly one-third of the food they produce? And at a national level, food waste is costing the Australian economy roughly $20 billion every year. 

For aged care and disability care providers, food waste can be a major drain on your resources. Every uneaten meal portion and out-of-date can that ends up in the bin is money that could have been better spent on improving the experience for your residents. 

But reducing waste in your homes doesn’t have to be a major undertaking. In fact, we’re here to share six practical ways you can start reducing food waste today to lower your environmental footprint and save significant money. 

Ready? Let’s dive into our favourite waste-saving kitchen tips for care providers. 

Tip one: monitor food waste levels

The first step to reducing food waste is to assess how much work you have to do. By auditing mealtime in your homes and reviewing how much food ends up in the bin each week, you’ll be able to make an informed decision about what changes need to be made.

Over a one-week period, take note of how much food is ending up in landfill in your homes. You can easily create a simple spreadsheet that shows the number of rubbish bags used at each mealtime for a rough estimate of your food waste footprint on a weekly basis.

So, what else should you be monitoring? Here are three actions you can take to get a clear picture of what food is going to waste:

• Track kitchen scraps: see how much compostable food waste (such as vegetable peels) is ending up in landfill by keeping a tally of rubbish bags removed from your kitchens and food prep areas.
  
  
  

• Observe food waste from your residents: uneaten meals or excess portions can easily be avoided with a review of portion sizes. Over a one-week period, note down how much food waste has come from your residents to see if changes in meal sizes are needed.
  
  
  

• Identify areas for improvement: separate your kitchen waste based on different parts of mealtime (from pantry to fridge to meal prep and uneaten meals). This will reveal the biggest opportunities for improvement to lower your kitchen’s food waste. 

Tip two: plan your resident’s meals in advance

There’s a reason we’re big advocates for meal planning. By mapping out what dishes you’ll be preparing at each mealtime week-by-week, you’ll be able to strategically reuse leftovers and avoid buying unnecessary ingredients. 

Plus, you’ll be able to purchase larger quantities of regularly used ingredients to save big by shopping in bulk. 

Not only does meal planning reduce food waste, but also saves your team time by taking the guesswork out of meal time. A clear meal planner gives your staff a practical roadmap to follow, complete with recipes and ingredients lists, to reduce the time spent on meal prep. 

This is a perfect solution for teams with varied culinary backgrounds or for beginners who are just mastering the basics of home cooking. 

Tip three: only shop for what you need

In a similar vein, our next tip for reducing food waste is about only shopping for the ingredients you actually need. With a clear meal planner, your teams will know exactly what ingredients and quantities they’ll need to purchase on a weekly basis. 

Not only will that streamline costs but also ensure every ingredient you purchase will be used in a specific meal over the next 7 days. 

This tip has the added benefit of reducing clutter in your fridges and pantries to keep your meal prep areas clean, tidy and food safe. 

Tip four: focus on good stock control 

Does your kitchen have a process for labelling and handling opened food containers? If not, this next waster-busting tip is a quick-win you can take action on today. 

To keep track of best-before and used-by dates, resealing and dating food once opened is a practical step you can take. This could involve using reusable Tupperware containers or simply using snap lock bags with ready-made labels. 

Once a team member opens a food product, the used-by or best-before date should be clearly marked on the container. This also communicates that this item is to be used first before opening a new packet to reduce the changes of the item expiring before use. 

Tip five: create plans for excess food 

Even with the best meal plans in place, excess food and leftovers may still occur. That’s why it’s important to have a contingency plan in these cases so this food doesn’t go to waste. 

Not sure how to make the most of your leftovers? Here are a few of our favourite ways to reuse common leftovers in the kitchen:

• Bake leftover veggies into a savoury tart or a warming veggie soup

• Less than crisp fruit can be turned into a fruit crumble, chopped or grated and added to a muffin batter, or folded through a simple butter cake batter
  
  
  

• Blend cooked veggies and cans of tomatoes into veggie-packed pasta sauces
  
  
  

• Repurpose cooked rice, meat and veggies into flavourful burritos 

Tip six: set up a compost for food scraps 

One of the best ways to beat food waste in your kitchens is to set up composting. This is an easy way to prevent food scraps from ending up in landfill and can even improve the quality of your home’s gardens. 

A simple compost system can be purchased from your local garden or hardware store and can reduce the need for chemical fertilisers in your gardens (again, more expenses saved!). 

Once your compost system is set up outdoors, simply add a small compost bin to your kitchen or food prep areas. After a couple of days, your team will adapt to putting all organic waste into these bins to lower your home’s environmental footprint.

When it comes to reducing food waste, all it takes is a bit of planning and preparation to make a big impact on your waste levels (and bottom line). By investing in a meal planning system for your homes and streamlining your kitchen system, you can significantly reduce the amount of food that ends up in your bins. 

Looking for the easiest, most cost effective way to prepare home-cooked meals and reduce waste in your kitchens? Find out more about our pre-designed meal planners and browse our pricing packages here.

This is a perfect solution for teams with varied culinary backgrounds or for beginners who are just mastering the basics of home cooking. 

Tip three: only shop for what you need

In a similar vein, our next tip for reducing food waste is about only shopping for the ingredients you actually need. With a clear meal planner, your teams will know exactly what ingredients and quantities they’ll need to purchase on a weekly basis. 

Not only will that streamline costs but also ensure every ingredient you purchase will be used in a specific meal over the next 7 days. 

This tip has the added benefit of reducing clutter in your fridges and pantries to keep your meal prep areas clean, tidy and food safe. 

Tip four: focus on good stock control 

Does your kitchen have a process for labelling and handling opened food containers? If not, this next waster-busting tip is a quick-win you can take action on today. 

To keep track of best-before and used-by dates, resealing and dating food once opened is a practical step you can take. This could involve using reusable tupperware containers or simply using snaplock bags with ready-made labels. 

Once a team member opens a food product, the used-by or best-before date should be clearly marked on the container. This also communicates that this item is to be used first before opening a new packet to reduce the changes of the item expiring before use. 

Tip five: create plans for excess food 

Even with the best meal plans in place, excess food and leftovers may still occur. That’s why it’s important to have a contingency plan in these cases so this food doesn’t go to waste. 

Not sure how to make the most of your leftovers? Here are a few of our favourite ways to reuse common leftovers in the kitchen:

• Bake leftover veggies into a savoury tart or a warming veggie soup

• Less than crisp fruit can be turned into a fruit crumble, chopped or grated and added to a muffin batter, or folded through a simple butter cake batter
  
  

• Blend cooked veggies and cans of tomatoes into veggie-packed pasta sauces
  
  

• Repurpose cooked rice, meat and veggies into flavourful burritos 

Tip six: set up a compost for food scraps 

One of the best ways to beat food waste in your kitchens is to set up composting. This is an easy way to prevent food scraps from ending up in landfill and can even improve the quality of your home’s gardens. 

A simple compost system can be purchased from your local garden or hardware store and can reduce the need for chemical fertilisers in your gardens (again, more expenses saved!). 

Once your compost system is set up outdoors, simply add a small compost bin to your kitchen or food prep areas. After a couple of days, your team will adapt to putting all organic waste into these bins to lower your home’s environmental footprint.

When it comes to reducing food waste, all it takes is a bit of planning and preparation to make a big impact on your waste levels (and bottom line). By investing in a meal planning system for your homes and streamlining your kitchen system, you can significantly reduce the amount of food that ends up in your bins. 

Looking for the easiest, most cost effective way to prepare home-cooked meals and reduce waste in your kitchens? Find out more about our pre-designed meal planners and browse our pricing packages here.