A Unique Child: Health & Nutrition - Waste not

According to the UK Government's waste advisory body Waste and Resources Action Programme (Wrap), we throw away seven million tonnes of food and drink from our homes every year at a cost of £12.5bn. Not surprisingly, non-domestic food waste statistics are even more shocking, with the education sector featuring high on the list of offenders.

Nick Morrison, writing in The Guardian last year, claimed that 'the education sector produces 13 per cent of all non-domestic food waste in England, throwing out some 123,000 tonnes a year, the bulk of that going straight to landfill'.

Apart from the moral issue of throwing away food when many people go hungry, this wastage has a massive environmental impact. Food production and transportation contribute to a significant proportion of the world's CO2 emissions, and food waste in landfill produces methane, another greenhouse gas.

If the environmental and ethical costs are not enough to make us think again, then surely the financial cost should be an incentive to look at our practice. At Snapdragons we consider the issue of food waste at every stage of the process from planning the meals right through to composting.

THE NUMBERS GAME

Good communication between the office and the kitchen is important. When children are ill or on holiday or when parents change their booking pattern, the kitchen team need to know so that they can cater for the right amount of children.

If you have term-time-only children in the nursery, this is especially important because it is likely to affect the numbers significantly, and if special meals are being produced for children with dietary needs the kitchen should know if those children are away.

CUPBOARD LOVE

One of the most frustrating ways to waste food is having to throw it away before it has even left the kitchen.

- You should be used to checking your fridge and freezer temperatures daily, and adding a weekly inventory of your cupboards will pay dividends too.

- Check the dates on all your packaging and bring the oldest packets to the front to make sure they are used first.

- Seal opened packets in air-tight containers labelled with the date that they were opened.

- Make sure you understand the difference between the 'best before' and 'use by' dates on food labels: 'Use by' is used on foods that could be harmful to health if eaten after the date; 'best before' appears on products like biscuits which may begin to go stale but will not harm consumers if eaten within a reasonable time.

I would argue that labelling has taken away our faith in our own senses when deciding if food is safe: how does it smell, look, feel? Having said that, although at home I would happily use my discretion, in nurseries we should definitely not be taking that risk.

AT THE TABLE

In our nurseries, we place great emphasis on the importance of self-serve mealtimes because we have seen the impact that it has on children's willingness to try new foods - if they have chosen to put it on their plate, they are much more likely to eat it and this, in turn, cuts down on food waste.

The food is presented in serving dishes and children are encouraged to take manageable amounts, going back for seconds if they wish. Staff will talk to the children about the food they are serving themselves and encourage sensible portion sizes, which we base on Children's Food Trust guidelines.

We encourage a calm and unhurried atmosphere at mealtimes and children wait for everyone to finish before leaving the table so that slower eaters are not tempted to leave half way through a meal.

Any leftover food in the serving dishes goes back to the kitchen where our chef, Raquel, often uses her ingenuity to transform it into another delicious dish. Of course, this also means we can monitor waste and the popularity of meals; although, don't give up too quickly on a new dish - it sometimes takes children a few goes before they decide to accept any new flavours.

CLEVER WAYS WITH LEFTOVERS

So, which of our leftovers are safe to use? Because all our food is freshly prepared from raw ingredients, it can quite safely be popped in the fridge straight after being offered at a meal time.

Fish One of Raquel's favourite leftover recipes is fish pate made from paprika baked fish. Mash the fish with cream cheese or sour cream and chopped chives and serve as a snack with bread or toast.

Bread Our homemade bread is delicious toasted on the third day and anything left is turned into breadcrumbs and frozen ready to coat fish or chicken goujons.

Biscuits and cakes can be crumbed too and used for fruit crumble toppings.

Milk Recently, Raquel wowed us with some delicious halloumi cheese that she stirred up from some milk that needed to be used. Just heat the milk to boiling point and add lemon juice to create a curd, then scoop this out with a sieve and strain it into a clean muslin cloth, tie it tightly and squeeze out the excess water before hanging it up in a cool place or a fridge overnight.

COMPOSTING

In an ideal world, we would all be composting our food waste, but in nurseries this is not always possible because it can encourage rats. If this is a concern, simply investigate your local council's composting collection service.

Try to avoid sending food waste to landfill, though: when food is sent to landfill, air cannot get to the organic waste so, when it breaks down, it creates harmful methane gas, which damages the Earth's atmosphere.

Mary Llewellin is operations manager for Snapdragons' eight nurseries. Snapdragons Keynsham has the Food For Life Partnership Gold Catering Mark, a Children's Food Trust Award, is accredited by the Vegetarian Society and was winner of the Nursery World Food Award in 2012 and 2014. See www.snapdragonsnursery.com

MORE INFORMATION

• Essential Waste and Resources Action Programme (Wrap), www.wrap.org.uk
• www.lovefoodhatewaste.com
• www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/teacher-blog/2014/may/22/schools-food-waste-save-money

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