Binned before we bite

Liquid Greens Machine in action.

GREEN MACHINE COMES TO BIRMINGHAM

The Love Food Hate Waste, Liquid Greens Machine recently visited Birmingham’s Victoria Square to serve up around 1,000 healthy vegetable juices and fruit smoothies to shoppers and commuters in the city. Prepared by chefs using ingredients that are commonly wasted in the home, passers-by were surprised how easy it is to turn simple ingredients into delicious drinks to be enjoyed at any time.

In partnership with Central England Co-operative and Birmingham City Council people were asked to pledge to #DoOneThingDifferently to waste less food and save money.

When asked how they would change their habits after visiting the roadshow, members of the public were keen to share their ideas, whether it was to: “Plan meals ahead, stick to shopping lists to reduce food waste” said Julie; “Try vegetable juices again using the recipes I’ve learnt today” said DT; “Only buy what is needed” said Heather; “Use leftovers for the next day’s lunch” said Stokes’; and capturing everyone’s thoughts, Andy said: “Plan better, store better, know what I have before buying more”.

Emma Marsh, Head of Love Food Hate Waste said: “We all have our own reasons for why food gets thrown away at home, so there isn’t a one size fits all solution. We want to be able to get people to look at the huge volume of food and drink that’s ending up in the bin and consider the one thing they might do differently to make sure that food gets tasted, not wasted. From storing fresh fruit in the fridge to using the freezer better, to downloading our free App to using the lovefoodhatewaste.com portion calculator – just doing one of these things can help everyone to waste less, save money, and help the environment.

“The Liquid Greens Machine showed people how to experiment with the good food and drink they buy and try making something delicious and different.”

Maryann Denfhy, Corporate Responsibility Manager with the Central England Co-operative said: “We were delighted to engage with the public in Birmingham city centre and share advice on how to prevent food waste. By working in partnership with WRAP, other local organisations and using our strong community links our aim is to have a positive impact on the attitudes and behaviour of local people when it comes to reducing food and drink waste.”

Video footage from the Liquid Greens Machine in Victoria Square:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVpRq2O2hpk&feature=youtu.be