“And Finally”

On Friday evening, 2nd May, with a supper of take-away fish and chips, mushy peas and a glass of wine, we held the last official meeting of the West Sussex Love Food Champions group.

Over the past 4 months we have swapped recipes, shared ideas on meal planning, compared shopping lists, promised that when we put leftovers in the freezer we will remember to get them out and use them. We have made new friends and will continue to keep in touch.

At the end of each meeting goals have been set and confidence in achieving them increased. Sue had set herself 4 goals at the end of Session 3, perhaps a little ambitious – was she carried away with enthusiasm at the last meeting?

Everyone agreed this has been a very positive experience with the added bonus that 3 of us were involved in the recording of the Ready Steady Cook programme! Sharing new ideas and fresh information with friends and colleagues has been easy and everyone is interested in what we are doing and achieving. One thing we have learnt is that with small children it is harder to keep food waste to the minimum. Sometimes they don’t want to eat, and sometimes they ask for more and don’t eat it. Nick has reduced the waste on the cereal the children eat by giving smaller portions and seconds if asked for.

So with a promise of a BBQ in the summer for the entire group and their families when we will meet Helen’s new baby, due in 2 weeks, could this be the first Love Food Champions baby? We will continue to put into practice all we have talked about and achieved so far in reducing our food waste and try to do better!

Remember to tune into BBC2 at 4.30pm on Friday to see what professional chefs do with a bag of leftovers given to them by Love Food Champion Emily Bennison.

Janice Langley