The dates for the roadshows are:
- Friday 10 February – Lion Walk Square, Colchester (near River Island and Boots)
- Thursday 16 February – Basildon Town Centre (behind Costa)
- Friday 17 February – The Square, Water Gardens, Harlow (near Sports Direct and Santander Bank)
- Thursday 23 February – Canvey Market, Knightswick Centre, Canvey Island (outside the library)
The roadshows feature fantastic live cookery demonstrations, with chefs showing how you can transform leftover food items into delicious dishes. There will also be free tasty food samples available.
Residents will also have the opportunity to quiz the chefs on what they can do with food items they regularly throw away. The Recycle for Essex team will also be on hand to offer advice on reducing food waste as well as some fantastic giveaways.
The roadshows are part of the Essex Love Food Hate Waste campaign, which aims to raise awareness about reducing food waste. It shows easy and practical ways to cut down the amount of food we throw away, including recipes for using up leftovers and handy tips on storage and perfect portions.
In the UK, we throw away 7.2 million tonnes of food from our homes every year, which has a serious impact on the environment. Rotting food in landfill produces methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Wasting food also hits our pockets, costing the average family with children around £680 a year, or £50 a month.
County Councillor Kevin Bentley, Cabinet Member for Economic Development and Waste said: “We are a county of keen recyclers, however it is important that we keep looking for new ways to reduce our food waste.
“These roadshows are an excellent way to get some inspiration for easy and tasty leftover recipes that you can try at home. The roadshows are also great fun, so I urge everyone to come along if they can.”
For more information, visit the Love Food Hate Waste website.
Below is footage of Councillor Bentley and chef Mark Baumann at the Love Food Hate Waste roadshow in Chelmsford last December.