But as a matter of policy we keep a close watch on the food cooked daily and anything which is produced extra is put to use with some added creativity. So naturally even if it is a small batch, we do need to prepare some amount of extra food. Besides, they have to make available all foods mentioned in the menu. "Upscale restaurants cannot use the same food the next day. In fact I have several interesting recipes to make the best use of leftover food."Ĭelebrity chef Manish Mehrotra says that his Indian Accent restaurants across the world ensure that not a single morsel is wasted and every bit of food in his restaurants is put to some constructive use. If there is anything extra left the next day, I use it to make Pav Bhaji, Veg Pulao, Kheer, or Sandwiches. For cooked food I ensure I prepare only as much as is required. "I wash and wipe fresh veggies dry before rolling them in newspapers and stashing them away in the refrigerator. Pushpa Jha, a homemaker has devised several ways that ensure food is not wasted in her kitchen. We usually don’t throw leftovers especially dals which we use to mix in the dough to make yummy parathas and even leftover vegetable dishes are used to make sandwiches and stuffed parathas."
Freeze as much as possible and don’t always trust the Best before and Use by dates given on the boxes and packs. Always make a grocery shopping list in advance so that you can avoid wasteful shopping. Buy small quantities of perishable products. Vickrham Vicky, food connoisseur, popular blogger, and chef, suggests- "Don’t buy too much food at one go. For example, making use of vegetable peels and chicken bones in making broth or using leftover rice to make granola bars. Upcycling food is not a new concept, being the need of the hour, it is now being largely adopted at domestic and commercial levels to prevent food wastage. It is not the same as recycling-upcycled food is not something that has already been used or eaten by someone. Upcycling food is basically making use of those ingredients which ideally would not have been consumed. As per the UN Environment Programme’s (UNEP) Food Waste Index Report, 2021 61% of food waste comes from households, 26% from food service and 13% from retail. As per Food and Agricultural Organisation report, nearly 931 million tonnes of food goes to waste each year which accounts for nearly 17% of global food production. COVID-19 has worsened the hunger scenario as from 2019 to 2020, the number of undernourished people grew by as many as 161 million. In India, we do not have an extensive system of collecting food waste and putting it to constructive use.Īccording to the UN Hunger Report, although the world produces enough food to feed the entire global population, still as many as 811 million people go hungry every day. Some of us feel guilty while wasting food which would otherwise have been somebody's nourishment, but do not know what else to do with leftover food. An extra chapati, one leftover piece of bread, veggies from the previous night, and even vegetable peels and trimmings-most of these food items land in the dustbin in a majority of Indian households.