SCRATCH COOKING

I heard the term "scratch cooking" for the first time this week. This is apparently a new experience for some people: selecting and preparing ingredients before putting the dish in the oven. I thought that is what "cooking" means, and that providing a salad with a bought quiche and oven chips was just "serving" food after warming it up. I obviously have a lot to learn (and snobbery to stamp out in myself).

The good news is that people who are buying more "scratch" ingredients to prepare their own meals, due to reducing household budgets and rising prices, not only appreciate the results but also greatly reduce food waste. Cooks can choose how much to cook, rather than buying multiples for two or four people.

The number of cooks who have creative ways of using up leftovers is growing - check out the "love food hate waste" website if you haven't joined them yet.

Another reduction in waste is the reduction in packaging. Prepared foods need much more protection than basic ingredients. This week there was also news of a survey which ranked supermarkets in the amount of packaging used for their goods, and the proportion of the packaging that could be recycled.

Farmers Markets use the least packaging, and the award winning Moseley Farmers' Market encourages and enables the use of recycled carrier bags as well. Join us on Saturday February 22nd and every fourth Saturday of the month from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.