Your Stories

Kitchen Canny Experiences

“It’s been really interesting; there have been some really handy hints for how to use up all your food and not waste it. It doesn’t actually take much time and it simplifies your life...it's hassle free!" - Sue Drury

“The biggest difference is in my pocket…we have made a big saving on our waste” - Suzanne Herbert

"My food bill’s about £150-£160 a week normally and this week it was only £90 so I have saved a lot. I would say go for it – it’s amazing what you learn. It could change your life!” - Karen Baigrie

“Taking part in the project has made a difference to my food waste. The amount of food we were wasting was ridiculous – we’re talking about £30 a week – now, we’re talking about nothing!" - Michelle Wallace

“It’s saving money – I think that’s a big incentive in these times.” - Katherine Eccles

Have Your Say:

How has Kitchen Canny helped you the most?

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Research shows...

Research shows that even people who think they don't waste much are actually throwing away roughly their own body weight in food every year.

Case Studies...

When Jill and Colin from Dalkeith embarked on the Kitchen Canny experiment, they were shocked by how much food they wasted. So they put a chalkboard up in their kitchen and wrote down what they were wasting - the name and shame technique! By making it 'public' in this way, they became much more aware of what they were wasting.

Their solutions:
"Growing our own has had the most influence on our veg waste, as we now know how much effort goes into growing it. When you’ve been out in the garden at 10pm picking slugs off your plants, you truly value the food that it eventually produces.

We are also motivated by saving some cash, as we both work hard and we would rather give the money to a cause than in essence throw it in the bin."

Sarah from Glasgow...

Felt that by composting her wasted fresh food she was already doing her bit. However, she was then made aware of the waste involved at the beginning of the process, such as the effort that goes into growing the food, and the fuel used to transport it.

"I'm ashamed to say that my caddy was half full, mainly due to a nearly full bag of gram flour (past the best before date last Christmas!) Maybe better storage would have helped, or incorporating it into more recipes, or even giving it away.

The caddy also had in it a cooked chicken wing - it was much bigger than I had expected and really impossible for one person to eat before being a bit of a risk. I should have made a curry and frozen it straight away."

Sarah from Edinburgh...
Has tried lots of new approaches, such as growing her own parsley. By taking some pine nuts that were on the turn, and some parmesan, she made parsley pesto by adding some olive oil and blitzing it in the blender. She added that any green herb or rocket can be used in this recipe.

Sarah roasts or grills any leftover fresh veggies and keeps them in a Tupperware container to use them as sandwich fillers. She also likes to cook and blend up old mushrooms with soft cheese for mushroom paté, or includes them in a Spanish tortilla.

Jackie from Bonnyrigg is canny with her labels:

"I keep a roll of labels and a marker pen in the kitchen drawer and write 'opened on' or 'once opened use by' dates on opened jars in the fridge. It reminds me what needs to be eaten soon!"