Helping reduce food waste

I was just coming back from my run when I heard shouting. I was just about to cross the High Street to go back home, when a lady came out of a shop and addressed me. This had been the shop where they sell local produce, that had been a temporary thing. Now the space was occupied by Pantri Pesda; an initiative that fights both food poverty and food waste. It isn't a food bank, as these are bodies you need to be referred to, and this pantry is open to all. Local supermarkets and restaurants and places like that donate their leftover food, and they redistribute it to those in the area who have use for it. And this time, they had more than they know what to do with. And the lady attending to the Pantry that day was the same person who had been running the shop so she knew me. She had a lot, LOT of rocket, and also a lot of peas and cabbage. She also plonked some nonperishable foodstuffs on top. That made less sense; they would happily last until the next week. But so be it. 

My swag

I don't really have use for a crate of rocket, but she said you can make rocket pesto with it, so I set to work. I had never made pesto! I think the result was okay, but it was way more than I can eat myself before it goes off. And my freezer compartment is tiny; no way I can reserve a big chunk of that for pesto. So the next thing I needed to do with somehow get rid of it! That did work quite well, though. So I have learned something, and me and three more people (I made 4 jars) have pesto… and the rocket wasn't thrown away!

Making pesto

At the time of writing, the white cabbage is still awaiting my attention, but the other cabbage and the peas have already been dealt with. And the vegan chocolate and the seaweed snack the last forever. I say: success!