Unpalatable though it is to find myself in agreement with Britain's richest MP, but Richard Benyon was in essence correct about the wastage element of our food culture. His estimate of £50 per month per family of food thrown away is within the bounds of reason.
As I understand his statement he was not advising people to live on leftovers, but to make the most of what they have. That this should have caused an uproar says much about the ridiculous nature of our party system - if your opponents say one thing the opposite must be true, even if it is simple common sense.
The use-by-date and sell-by-date thing is another aspect of this. On Sunday I was shopping and spotted a piece of Parmesan near its SBD at a third of the original price. Parmesan, which if stored properly will last months and months. It was not what I had gone for (chicken for a paella), but in the basket it went. This is not to advocate buying dodgy food, but to point out that sometimes bureaucratic neatness is out of kilter n the kitchen.
We just cleared one of our store-cupboards out, so I am as guilty as the next cook, a pack of Quinoa that seemed like a good idea at the time never even opened, and the dregs of several bags of flour joining it. Some candied peel found at the very back was three years out of date, and though I reckon being candied it was still ok three years is a bit too much leeway to ask, so our chickens are getting it in small doses and seem quite keen.
Chickens are a wonderful way of reducing food wastage, as I have posted before. A rather manky carrot is in their box waiting to be cut into tiny bits, a treat for them that will add to the beta-carotein content of tomorrow's eggs. As our earning power inevitably gravitates ever closer to that enjoyed in the BRICS nations with which we compete I guess more of us will keep these excellent birds. Even Mr Benyon may - though given he is worth £110 million pounds, apparently, it would not be out of necessity.
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