Living With Less: Food

Over the next few issues, TEENA TOWNSEND will be looking at how we can live better by cutting down on the clutter – starting with our pantries!

We’re all familiar with the overused modern jargon forlearning to live with less – minimalising, decluttering and downsizing, to name just a few. But cutting back can seriouslyimprove our own health and wellbeing, not to mention the health of our planet! Living with less stuff doesn’t necessarily mean purging your home. Instead, it's about adopting a different approach to the way you live your life on a day-to-day basis. Small actions such as recycling, reducing what you bring into your home, and finding better ways to do things – such as food shopping, cooking, cleaning, commuting – can all make a big difference. An easy place to start is rethinking our habits around food.

Grow your own

•Fruit, vegetables, herbs and even eggs are within reach. You don't need bags of room – a balcony tub, a wall garden or raised vegetable beds will do the trick! • You pick what you want when you need it, reducing waste and ensuring what you eat is as fresh as possible. • When you’re harvesting your own food you know what you are getting – no unhealthy pesticides, herbicides etc. • There are no carbon miles for getting it from your garden to your kitchen. • If there’s too much harvest, make it into products to keep for a later date – see next tip.

LIVING WITH LESS: FOOD

Make your own

•Think about making your own hummus, jams, pickles, nut butters, pesto, tomato sauce, preserved fruit, dried herbs, stock – the options are endless. • Making your own food not only reduces packaging but also reduces or eliminates the hidden additives, preservatives and chemicals found in processed foods. • Make the most of all-natural, seasonal produce by preserving, freezing, cooking, dehydrating for use out of season.

Don’t default to unhealthy “convenience” foods

•Make your own soups in winter – clean, pure, simple food loaded with nutrition without any of the other stuff. • Buy block cheese and grate it yourself. It has none of the anticaking additives and preservatives. A 1kg block too much? Then freeze it.

•Bake your own biscuits and cakes –you can’t deny that a homemade ANZAC biscuit tastes much better.

•Make your own crackers and snacks. Why pay $6 for 100gm of artisan crackers plus packaging when you can make your own for a fraction of the cost.

Bulk buy

•Buy food and produce in bulk when in season or when it can be frozen, stored or made into jams, preserves or sauces.

•Buy large sides of meat such as lamb or beef to split and share with friends and family.

Bulk cook

•Eat one freeze one.So many family favourites are super easy to cook in bulk, much cheaper and with much less packaging. • Bulk cooking is not just for a rainy day, it’s for a busy day, a sick day or any day you don’t want to cook.Not needing to cook every night of the week is a real bonus for physical and mental health.

Nose-to-tail cooking and eating

•Offal isn't as awful as it sounds. It reduces waste and is better for the environment and your hip pocket. • Incorporate offal into the kitchen by making stock and bone broth with carcasses.

•Those hesitant about the offal experience can try making pate with liver, putting a few kidneys in a beef stew, or mincing and “hiding” offal in stews, bolognese, curries and dishes where it will not be discovered.

•Alternatively, jump right in and give lamb brains, liver and bacon, tripe, sweetbreads, chicken feet or pig trotters a go! • For the remainder of the animal that you can’t, won’t, or don’t eat, make it into super healthy, nutritional pet food and treats for your furry friends.

Food storage

•Learn to store different food items appropriately, in the correct place and at the correct temperature. • To avoid possible toxins and petrochemicals, avoid storing food in plastic where possible and opt for glass, stainless steel, ceramic or silicon. Recycle previously used bottles and jars. • For the health of the planet avoid single use containers, cutlery or straws, plastic wrap, Ziplock bags, excess packaging, plastic produce bags and bottled water. • For the health of the planet opt for compostable materials, beeswax wraps, reusable produce and shopping bags, reusable water bottles and keep cups for coffee and tea.

By no means are these ideas and tips all encompassing – they are merely the tip of the iceberg and intended to provide a starting point to think about how making lifestyle improvements for your physical and mental health can be intertwined with improving the health of our planet.