Christmas is undoubtedly the season of indulgence, but unfortunately it’s often the season of waste too.
According to Respect Food, approximately seven million tonnes of edible food is thrown away in the UK every year over Christmas. That includes two million turkeys, five million Christmas puddings, and 74 million mince pies.
On the other side of the production line, an estimated 20 to 40% of UK fruit and vegetables are rejected even before they reach the shops – mostly because they don’t meet supermarkets’ strict cosmetic standards.
Although festive gatherings may be a little smaller than usual this year, we’re going to assume that the portion sizes definitely won’t be, nor necessarily should they be.
We’re all about eating, drinking and being merry, but what’s important is to be smart about what you buy and cook to make sure to waste as little as possible.
To help combat the amount of food thrown away, Open Kitchen MCR has launched ‘Zero Food Waste’ private cook-along events; a 60-minute Christmas zoom party with a focus on reducing food waste. The meal box is made from beautiful (and perfectly edible) rescued ingredients that would otherwise have gone to waste.
Every family who celebrates Christmas has their own classic leftovers recipes, but Open Kitchen hopes to give guests some new ones they might not have tried before.
The ingredient boxes can be delivered to your home or workplace. The Open Kitchen MCR chefs will guide guests through one of their recipes; choose from Japanese gyoza filled with classic Christmas ingredients; Turkey samosas and brussel sprout bhajis; or Italian gnocchi made from ‘yesterday’s roasties’.
There will also be time to ask the team about how to have a more sustainable kitchen.
As well as the live cook-alongs, Open Kitchen are offering Christmas party dinner deliveries, with festive canapes (£8.50 pp) of a two course dinner (£15pp) prepared and delivered, ready to enjoy at home or work.
Profits from the meal boxes will help Open Kitchen continue to their work supporting people in crisis across Greater Manchester.
Earlier this year, in response to the Covid-19 crisis, Open Kitchen MCR transformed their service to deliver nutritious meals to vulnerable people across the city. They have now provided more than 140,000 meals and are continuing their work delivering food to those living in homelessness hostels and supported by food banks. This work will be directly funded by the meal boxes.
Corin Bell, director of Open Kitchen MCR said “This year has been far from normal for us and we have learnt to pivot very quickly. We’re really excited to venture into live virtual cook-alongs to keep everyone cheery, social, inspired, and of course reducing food waste, for the festive season.
“The fact that your cook-along party will help feed someone in a crisis this Christmas will hopefully bring an extra smile to your event … who’s hungry?”
Open Kitchen MCR’s festive cook-alongs cost £15 per person and are for a minimum group of seven people.
Guests can choose to have local, organic and sustainable wines, beers and non-alcholic drinks delivered alongside the meal boxes too.
For details on how to book the live cook-alongs or the Christmas dinner deliveries, visit: openkitchenmcr.co.uk/christmasparty.
There is also a one-off public event to learn how to make festive gyozas on 14 December. To book tickets click here.
