Abundance: if we had to summarize what happens with Christmas dinners and meals in one key word, that would be the one chosen. The celebration is closely connected to gastronomic culture and tradition has accustomed many food dishes and many desserts. The Christmas holidays have been the time to 'go all out' decade after decade. But what happens to everything that reaches the table and that, despite good intentions, cannot be eaten?
Food waste is a major problem. It is one that marks everyday life and that has become both an environmental and economic issue. 40% of all food produced ends up in the trash.
Christmas lunches and dinners are no exception. 7 out of 10 Spaniards acknowledge that they buy more food than usual during these holidays because they want to ensure that their guests do not lack, according to a study by Too Good To Go that has precisely addressed food waste in the Spanish Christmas. 3 out of 10 end up wasting more than 10% of all that food and 2 out of 10 end up wasting between 11 and 25%. 3.1% of those surveyed admit that half of what they buy ends up becoming garbage.
The study data also allows us to understand why more food is wasted on these dates. Those surveyed recognize that the key is in excessive purchasing that goes beyond what is necessary (36%), in which they cook too much and then have leftovers (32%) or in purchasing too many typical holiday products just because it is Christmas and then they are not eaten (23%).
3.1% of those surveyed admit that half of what they buy ends up becoming garbage
In fact, this last point is closely connected to another of the survey's conclusions. The desserts are what is left over. 40% say that what they usually have most are desserts and 39% sweets. At Christmas, we get carried away with the enthusiasm for Polvorones, Nougats and other festive delicacies, but we end up with a glut of sweets and a surplus of these products. In terms of waste, they surpass meat (32%), side dishes (24%), bread (23%) or sauces (18%). Only 3% trust that there is nothing left over at the Christmas table.
Of course, this has a negative effect on the domestic economy. According to data from the OCU, shopping basket costs escalate in the month of December. The average cost increase that they have detected at this start of December is 4.3%, but it is much higher in those specific products that are part of Christmas dinners and meals. Barnacles, clams and hake have increased their cost by around 20%.
In the Too Good To Go study they have estimated how much money ends up in the trash in Spanish families: if the average food expenditure at Christmas is going to be 298.27 euros, the average food waste figures involve throwing away about 30 euros.
“A lot of food is still being made,” acknowledges Carlos García, PR Manager for Spain and Portugal at Too Good To Go. Of course, issues like food waste are not exactly new to consumers anymore. “There is more awareness,” he points out, “but there is still more to do.”
Seven out of 10 people, he explains, already acknowledge that they are worried about food being wasted. It happens because of the social impact, “that feeling of guilt about how I am going to throw away food”; for the environmental, “there is greater eco-awareness”; and on the economic side, since, as García points out, we have paid for those foods that end up in the trash before and we have done so in a context of inflation. The reasons for the greater awareness are multiple, but they lay the foundation for, also at Christmas, to think about what happens to everything that is bought and cooked and how waste can be reduced.
The solution to the problem
It is possible to continue celebrating the holidays with food as the festive epicenter. What must change is what happens with what is left over and even consider first how and what is going to be acquired.
Health experts from the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) are committed to starting on the shopping list, thinking about what menus are going to be prepared and what is going to be needed. This way you don't buy too much. Improving food preservation, adjusting portions so as not to force food to be left on the plate, freezing excess or reusing leftovers are ways to ensure that food does not go from the Christmas table to the garbage can.
The solution to the waste of Christmas food involves “simple gestures that do not require great effort,” as García indicates, and that nevertheless achieve “an incredible impact on our pockets and the planet.” For example, something that is as common in other times as giving a 'tupperware' with leftovers can help prevent excessive food leftovers from remaining in one house. And, as García jokes, the guests are sure to appreciate it, since they save cooking the next day.
Using creativity in the kitchen to deal with leftovers allows you to give them a new life, making croquettes and other useful recipes with them. All that excess nougat that comes with Three Kings Day can be reinvented into a cake, for example. It is “on the one hand, we must become aware of 'we are going to moderate the purchase' and, if there is excess, what we can do with it,” says the expert.
With all this, the carbon footprint of festive dinners and meals will be reduced, but also the economic hole they represent in our pockets. And, perhaps in this way, the new year will begin with a less steep January slope.
Christmas recipes
There are many ideas for converting Christmas leftovers. Christmas casseroles can be turned into cannelloni, extra stale bread into pudding, and leftovers from main dishes and accompanying vegetables into croquettes. With the chocolate nougat left on the dessert tray you can make “festive salami”: you only need cookies, eggs, butter or icing sugar.
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