The lost art of leftovers
November 2, 2007
We waste too much food and should return to the way we lived during the war, says a new campaign. It would save us money and help save the planet.
It was considered a crime to waste food during the war, according to 92-year-old Marguerite Patten.
And she should know, being the woman who helped housewives make the most of their family's rations during World War II.
A food adviser to the government, she went around the country demonstrating to shoppers how to make the best of the food on offer.
Nowadays planning a week's meals down to the last carrot or saving a few pounds by chopping, mixing and cooking leftovers into a new dinner would seem like too much hard work to a lot of people.
But it's these lost skills that are to blame for much of the 6.7 million tonnes of food we throw away each year. A third of all the food we buy is now thrown into the bin and half of it is still perfectly edible, according to the government's waste reduction agency, Wrap. You're throwing away one bag of shopping in three away, it says.
This wanton wastage is not only costing us money - up to £400 a year - but is hurting the environment: the methane released by decomposing food in landfills is the most potent of greenhouse gases. Cutting it out would be the same as taking one fifth of cars off the road, says Wrap.
Put simply, we waste too much food and need to return to wartime values of thrift and resourcefulness, says Wrap.
Lucky
But the simple basics of food planning have been scraped into the bin, along with the leftovers, say those who lived through rationing and still live by the lessons it taught them.
"Youngsters don't seem to know anything about shopping," says 82-year-old Maureen Smith. "They don't even make a list, they just pluck whatever takes their fancy of the shelf. It just seems daft to me, you probably end up with a lot of food but nothing you can make a decent meal out of."
Raising a family during the war, Mrs Smith learned to use everything she had in her larder - and had to. She says people give no thought to wasting food these days and it is a reflection of today's "throwaway" culture.
"Back then if you didn't use every bit of food you'd end up with nothing to eat," she says. "You were proud to use everything because you felt you were helping the war effort - we all felt we were pulling together. Using leftovers also felt like getting a free meal and that was satisfying in itself.
"Today people are used to getting whatever they want, they feel entitled to everything and think nothing of throwing stuff away. I just felt lucky to have a good meal in my belly - I still do."
Price of progress
The skills of managing the larder - fridges were nothing more than a dream to most - were valued and passed down the generations.
"I just grew up with it, I don't remember my mum throwing away anything," says Ruth Bond, who at 55, was born in the era of post-war austerity. "It was just part of life and in our psyche - it still is. The skills were passed down through generations, you'd sit and watch your mother cook."
But over the years such skills have become less and less valued, argue some. There are many reasons for this, often political.
"The skills people have now are using the microwave and pulling off packaging," says Tim Lang, professor of food policy at City University, London.
"Teaching proper household skills wasn't seen as important for years. Part of the reason for this was progress, that women were able to get out of the kitchen and into work."
But one of the costs was home economics slipping off the school timetable and this has been storing up trouble for the future, says Mr Lang.
"Instead of slipping off the timetable, home economics should have been expanded to boys as well as girls. The problem we now have is that people are being told to plan meals, to use leftovers, to eat more healthily - but who's going to teach them?"
Classic recipes
In fact, the subject remains on the school timetable, although under the aegis of design and technology. Earlier this year, then Education Secretary Alan Johnson promised there would be a greater emphasis on cookery lessons in school, as part of review of the national curriculum.
If teachers are looking for inspiration, they'd be wise to turn to the Women's Institute. While popular myth portrays the WI as an army of jam sponge-making middle-aged women, the institution was set up in the early 20th Century to help women make the most of the food they had.
The WI is backing Wrap's campaign with a list of recipes and tips on how to create leftover dishes such as bubble and squeak, shepherd's pie, chutney and bread and butter pudding.
"They were basic dishes years back but my grandchildren would have no idea how to make them now, they'd just buy them already made," says Mrs Smith.
One thing that has changed for the better is that such dishes are now considered British classics and seen on the menus of the country's top restaurants and if it's good enough for Gordon...
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