Vegan couple reveal how they ate for free for a MONTH by dining on food that would otherwise be thrown away – to show just how much is wasted by Brits
- Sophie and Paul Collins asked friends and families for food they’d throw away
- Couple, from Cambridge, also ate supermarket food that was past sell-by date
- They saved around £200 in four weeks through their new way of living
A vegan couple have revealed how they ate for free for a month by dining on food that would have been thrown away.
Sophie and Paul Collins, from Cambridge, explained how they decided to embark on the challenge to raise awareness of just how much food is wasted by Brits.
The pair asked friends and family for food they would be throwing out and ate supermarket produce that had past their sell-by dates, as well as using food sharing apps and picking fruit off trees.
The couple, who run the blog Vegan On Board, managed to save around £200 in four weeks through their new way of living.
Sophie and Paul Collins, from Cambridge, (pictured with pickles and pears they got for free) have revealed how they ate for free for a month by dining on food that would have otherwise been thrown away
Paul, 28, (pictured with a selection of produce he got for free) by asking family and friends for food they were going to throw out, as well as getting food that was past its sell-by date
Explaining their decision to try out the challenge Paul, 28, said: ‘There is so much food going to waste everyday, yet so many people have to suffer from hunger.
‘We asked families to look in their cupboards for what they won’t have used for years. We ended up with this big hall of food and we lived off it.
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‘I would really like to see a change for the better. It is amazing how much you can find.’
He added: ‘We did a lot of foraging like collecting apples as some people have boxes outside their houses – that was mostly fruit because most people have fruit trees. The biggest collection we done was 12 kilograms of marrow.
Paul explained how he and Sophie visited the Cambridge Community Fridge – a charity which collects food supermarkets throwaways (above, with boxes of food that had been collected)
Paul and Sophie (pictured apple picking) also picked fruit off trees in their mission to eat for free for an entire month
Sophie, 28 – who is self-employed – added: ‘For the first week, we struggled getting enough to eat and it was hard to put a proper meal together.
‘But then we started to find ways to access more of the food that is being wasted locally.’
The couple started their challenge last month to raise awareness for the amount of food that is wasted every year.
According to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation, one third of the food produced in the world for human consumption gets wasted every year – approximately 1.3 billion tons.
To challenge this, Paul and Sophie used food sharing apps including Olio – which allows you to share free food with your neighbours – as well as visiting the Cambridge Community Fridge – a charity which collects food supermarkets throwaways.
Paul explained how he and Sophie visited the Cambridge Community Fridge, which collects food that’s gone past its sell-by date
Sophie explained how they would also pick fresh produce they had picked themselves, including apples (above)
Paul said: ‘I guess the thing that really started us off is that we are big fans of sustainability.
‘The Olio app is really good, if you have bought something for a party and there is left overs you can put it on the app rather than throwing it away and it can go to good use.
‘And we eventually ended up with super market food because of the different charities with the help from FoodCycle.
‘They go around collecting supermarket food and hold the Cambridge Community Fridge.’
Sophie continued: : ‘Most of our fruit has come from windfalls and surplus from trees around the city.’
Sophie and Paul (pictured with a marrow) began to look for food that they could get hold of naturally as part of the challenge
Sophie (pictured) and Paul also used food-sharing apps to make the most of food that would otherwise have been thrown away
Sophie and Paul made an apple tart (above) from ingredients they collected from neighbours, friends and foraging
The couple are now planning on trying to hit their target of raising £1,000 by hosting a fundraising feast for friends and supporters.
‘It would be nice to reach the target and we have plenty of food left over,’ Sophie explained.
Paul added: ‘The challenge has made us more creative with the food we eat.
‘We now know so many great ways to use stale bread – French toast, breaded mushrooms, garlic croutons, that we will never throw away again.’
The couple hope their Food Waste Challenge, will inspire others to reduce their own food waste at home and hold supermarkets and suppliers accountable for the waste they produce.
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