Council cooks up competition to help cut food waste

 

Council cooks up competition to help cut food waste

A cooking competition which will encourage people to use up leftover food is being launched by Perth & Kinross Council.

Unwanted and spoiled food is a waste produced by most households on a regular basis. This not only creates unnecessary waste going to landfill that could have been prevented, but also costs households on average up to £430 a year in foodstuffs bought but never eaten.

In an effort to highlight this in a fun and hands-on way, the Council launched a competition at Perth Farmers Market on Saturday 1st October, inviting local residents to send in their best recipes using leftovers.

With support from Cittaslow Perth and with some of the local area's best known chefs judging the entries, the competition, which will run throughout the month of October, is open to all Perth and Kinross residents.*

Turning leftovers into delicious dishes

The aim is to inspire home cooks and budding chefs alike to come up with some delicious recipes that turn everyday leftovers into tasty meals, promoting the national 'Love Food Hate Waste' message.

The panel of expert judges, who will also be very kindly providing prizes for the top six recipes, are:

Graeme Pallister, 63 Tay Street
Jason Henderson, Knock Castle Hotel & Spa, Crieff
Jonny Greer, The Anglers' Inn, Guildtown
Ronny McDonald, Cargill's Restaurant, Blairgowrie
Sarah Mellersh, Let's Cook Scotland, Abernethy
Tony Heath, Tony Heath Cook School, Perth

The prizes range from a meal for two at participating chefs' restaurants to full-day cooking courses to help fine-tune those kitchen skills. In addition, the recipes will be displayed on the Council website, and on Cittaslow and Zero Waste Scotland social media sites. The winning dishes will also be printed as recipe cards and given out at local events by the Council?s Waste Services team.

Test your culinary skills in fun competition

The recipes, which can be a starter, main course or pudding, must consist of at least three leftover ingredients and should take no longer than one hour to make (including preparation time). They should preferably also use local or in season ingredients. There is a maximum of two entries per individual, and the winning entries will receive their prize via a lucky draw.

Councillor Jack Coburn, Chair of the Cittaslow Perth Steering Group, said: "This is an excellent initiative which supports Perth's Cittaslow status as well as continuing to showcase the Council's excellent record of waste reduction initiatives. It will be a fun way for people to join in with the Council's waste reduction programme, and make residents really think about how much food they throw away."

To be in with a chance of winning, all you have to do is send in your leftovers recipe to Waste Services, The Environment Service, 35 Kinnoull Street, Perth, PH1 5GD or email it to recycle@pkc.gov.uk with the subject heading 'Love Food Hate Waste Competition'.

*Please note, some terms and conditions apply; for full competition details and further information, please see www.pkc.gov.uk/lovefoodhatewaste. These details are also available from the Council's Customer Service Centre on 01738 476476.