A mum who is committed to producing zero food waste says the savings she makes pay for luxury holidays for her brood.
Kelley Szostak, 36, who works in NHS cancer care, has brought her weekly food shop down from £80 to just £18 by shopping at surplus supermarkets flogging discounted products.
Kelley, who lives with husband Alex, 35, and her sons Alistair, four and Fraser, 18 months, says she's horrified by how much we waste in the UK.
She said: “The amount of food wasted in this country is criminal.
“People are going hungry while safe food is binned. I can’t stand it.
“I’m doing my part to reduce my carbon footprint and provide a cheaper and more sustainable way of life for my family.”
Kelley, from Lancashire, first went to a surplus food supermarket in 2011 when she was living in Sheffield.
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She said: “I had heard about the shop and wanted to have a look for myself.
“It was a tiny little warehouse that had fridges, freezers and shelves absolutely chock full of stuff that was about to go out of date.
“I was surprised by how much good stuff I could find and when I considered the fact that it would otherwise go in the bin, I was horrified.”
And since her sons were born, she's only become more aware of how much food we waste in this country every year.
She said: “It is devastating to think that food poverty is a real thing in this country, especially because it’s completely preventable.
“If more food was made available to people who need it rather than it being thrown out, a lot more people would be fed.
“I always say, food is better in bellies than in the bin.”
Now Kelley puts together a tight budget to do the weekly shop for the family - which she says has built up to an enormous saving over the years.
“Cutting our food bill down by £62 a week has meant that, before the pandemic, we were able to have two family holidays in Australia and one to New Zealand. We also went to the South Pacific and holidayed for two weeks in Samoa.
“Over the years, I’ve learnt a lot about food storage and the best ways to save food.
“Whether it’s things like placing spring onions in a little glass of water before putting them in the fridge to keep them fresher for longer or dividing meat into portion sizes before freezing.
“I have two freezers at home now, because of all the surplus shopping I do, which means we have access to a lot of different types of food.”
Kelley also swears by using alternative food shops to help her sons expand their eating habits - meaning they're less fussy.
She said: “They have such a varied diet because of all the things I cook. You can’t always guarantee what will be available at the surplus shops, so we eat a lot of different cuisines.
“One of my eldest son’s first words was actually hummus.”
Although she and her family operate a zero-waste policy, Kelley is concerned about the rest of the country.
“There are hundreds of thousands of tonnes of food that go to waste and there are so many people living in food poverty. This shouldn't even be an issue in this country.
“If there is food that is perfectly safe for human consumption, why is it not getting to humans?" she said.
She uses the Too Good to Go app and buys from The Real Junk Food Project in Leeds to get her weekly shop. The project sells food that would otherwise have been tossed from supermarkets and restaurants, on a pay-what-you-want basis. Now, she wants other people to follow her lead.
She said: “I have already converted loads of people. All my friends and family are on board and I use social media to spread the word.
“I only ever want to see people succeed at this, because the more people who shop like this, the more beneficial it’s going to be for everybody.
“I encourage anyone I can to take the leap and give it a try.”
She also wants people to realise that buying discounted food doesn't mean you just get odd pieces and that you can easily sustain a family on what you buy.
"As a family, we’ve increased our vegetable intake because we buy boxes of wonky veg that aren’t selling in normal shops," she said.
As the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) takes place in Glasgow, Kelley hopes the UK will be encouraged to make big changes to protect the environment.
"There are other countries in Europe, including France, where it is now illegal for shops to throw away food that is fit for human consumption," she said, calling on the UK government to implement something similar.
“I understand that money doesn't grow on trees, but what do we prioritise? This should be a priority for our government.
“The effects of climate change are being felt everywhere in the UK. Places are getting hotter, winters are getting shorter, snowfall is getting worse.
Do you live in a zero-waste household? Email jessica.taylor@reachplc.com with your top tips to reduce waste
“One of the biggest contributors of climate change is food waste and it is such a simple change that we can make to our daily lives.
“Buying from surplus food shops is an opportunity to save money while also reducing your carbon footprint.”
