What would you do with £50

Last Sunday we were looking at our response to Global Poverty. One of the things that we said, as mentioned in my last post, was that most of us, if not all of us, in church last week come in the top few percent of the global rich list whilst there are billions of people who live on about £1 a day. It is therefore a logical conclusion, given that the world's resources are finite, that those of us at the top of the pile are going to have to get used to living with less, if those at the bottom of the pile are going to have a fair share.

And it is up to each of us to work out what this more simple lifestyle might look like for us. We know, for example, that the world cannot sustain a population who want to eat meat every day. So, whilst you may not want to make the total switch to becoming vegan or vegetarian (immediately) - how about giving up meat for five days a week? With recipes like butternut squash risotto, vegetarian pilau rice, and mixed bean curry you won't miss your meat, you'll feel more healthy, and you'll save money.



Yesterday evening I went to a very interesting session on Love Food Hate Waste, which although presented from an environmental view point ties in with the idea of being good stewards of what God has given us. The campaign itself has shifted its emphasis from the environmental - we can't keep throwing food into landfill - to the financial - the average household throws away about £50 worth of edible food every month. This waste is due to a number of factors such as:

• not understanding the difference between sell by, use by, best before dates etc, 
• not planning properly, so having food going off in the back of the fridge, 
• not storing food properly (e.g. not freezing left overs which could be used in a few week's time),
• cooking too much,
• not making use of leftovers.

And it is not all the fault of the supermarkets and restaurants. Family households throw away the largest percentage of food waste. The problem is at the back of my fridge and your cupboards!

The organisation has a really good website with lots of useful tips and ideas addressing each of the above factors and more - click on the green logo above. Let's become even better stewards of what we have, and stop throwing away perfectly good food. If nothing else motivates you - just think what you could do with the extra cash!