When Mum and I Volunteered at Foodcycle Cambridge

I thoroughly enjoy helping out at my local branch of Foodcycle.  You can ready about the awesome work they do and find your local branch here.  I try and help out about once every 6 weeks.  I would like to help out much more often however work and family life tend to hamper my efforts.   I've blogged about volunteering for Foodcycle before, it is a fab way to spend a Saturday morning.

My Mum was keen to come along and volunteer too.  We both enjoy cooking and cannot stand food being wasted so off we traipsed ealy one Saturday morning.  We worked solidly for 3 hours with 3 other volunteers, one of whom was the Prep Team Leader for the morning.  My poor mother had not seen or prepared so many courgettes in her life! 

Our menu for the day was:

We stayed until all the preparation and cooking had been done but sadly had to leave before pudding was served because I had to dash off for my eye test.  It was such a shame to have to leave early, next time I won't book any appointments in the afternoon.

Ratatouille Bruschetta with a side salad

Satay Stir Fry with Spaghetti instead of noodles

If you have a Foodcycle near you do go and visit, either to volunteer or to eat the delicious meal which is a bargain at a suggested donation of £2 for 3 courses.  Volunteering is lots of fun, you'll get ideas for cutting food waste in a tasty way and help prepare and serve a meal for the local community from food which would otherwise be wasted.

It gets me very cross indeed to see the amount of food which would ordinarily be wasted.  Why are there so many people in food poverty when we are wasting so much food?! I know there are schemes such as Fareshare but surely we could do so much more.  If you have non-perishable food that is unopened and undamaged which you will not use please donate it to your local Food Bank.  You can also make a donation to the Trussle Trust.

Another brilliant idea is the #22mealsforacoffee which was started on Twitter by A Girl Called Jack which encourages us all to spend £3 on a list of storecupboard items, put them in sturdy carrier bags and take it straight to a local food bank, or a friend or neighbour in need.

How do you combat food waste? Have you ever volunteered at Foodcycle or on a Fareshare harvest?