Who Didn't Know?

The Guardian has a piece on how to not waste your food.

I'm guessing it's not the first and, thanks to all sorts of factors that I'm sure you are all well aware of, it certainly won't be the last. I'm pretty sure that even the Mail and Telegraph have already done there own versions of this list. Here's the Guardian one with just the bullet-points:

1. Avoid the supermarket
2. Ignore two-for one offers
3. Shop daily for perishables
4. Bulk-buy non-perishables
5. Be storage savvy
6. Meal-plan for the week
7. Cook
8. Buy quality not quantity
9. Freecyle/become a 'freegan'
10. Reacquaint yourself with your freezer
11. Don't be afraid of an empty fridge
12. Grow your own herbs and salad
13. Buy vegetables whole
14. Know how much a portion is so you don't overcook
15. Bulk-cook meals
16. Learn how to use leftovers
17. Look to previous generations
18. Take sell-by dates with a pinch of salt
19. Rediscover packed lunches
20. Equip yourself

I'm not sure exactly who this list is aimed at, but anyone interested enough to read the whole thing is probably doing most of that anyway. I know my mother and brother both do all those things with the possible exception of item 9, though if you ignore the horrible neologism of "freecycle" and think more in terms of keep an eye out for genuine bargains then they probably cover the whole lot.

Maybe that's the point. You aren't supposed to actually pick up any tips from the list. You are supposed to tick each item as you read it, leaving yourself with the warm glow of pride when you realise that you are doing most of these things already.

It feels related to those stickers and posters that seem to be appearing everywhere that urge you to do your bit for the environment, usually somewhere where the hypocrisy is so great it threatens to melt your brain like a Shell garage or Tesco.

As Bill Gates once opined on the movement to more "user-friendly" computing: "Software suppliers are trying to make their software packages more 'user-friendly' Their best approach, so far, has been to take all the old brochures, and stamp the words, 'user-friendly' on the cover".

Some things never change.