Copy of december 2011.pub - Lazyfish Technology

December 2011 Kangaroo Valley Voice www.kangaroovalley.nsw.au Page 41
Waste not, waist not
by Dr Rosemary Stanton, nutritionist
We’re fast approaching the season where we
experience the greatest accumulation of
waste – and waist. We buy too much, eat
and drink too much and add a big burden to
the local tip as we throw out loads of food
and packaging.
Waste is a disaster throughout the world. The
amount of food thrown away each year would
feed an extra 3 billion people.
Australians are particularly fond of throwing
food away. The Australia Institute has shown
that the food we throw away each year
represents a loss of $5.2 billion. Much of that
food ends up in landfill. As the food rots, it
generates methane, a greenhouse gas that has
over 20 times the potency of carbon dioxide.
That’s the bad news about waste. The national
girth is also continuing to increase. The
majority of Australian adults are now
overweight or obese. This may make excess
waist appear normal, but from a health
viewpoint, it is not.
Fat around the waist and on the upper body is a
health hazard. As fat is deposited around the
waist, the risks increase for diabetes, high
blood pressure, heart attack, strokes, kidney
diseases, some of the common cancers,
including bowel cancer and breast cancer (in
older women only) and also osteoarthritis and
dementia.
Fat on the bottom and thighs is not a hazard for
any of these conditions with the exception of
osteoarthritis.
One part of me says it’s not the best time of
year to carry on about excess weight. Another
part is aware that many people gain a few kilos
over the festive season – and never lose it!
Here are some tips to avoid waste:
Be realistic
Prepare only as much as people are likely to
eat. If anyone is left unsatisfied after a party,
Christmas barbecue or dinner, they are unlikely
to starve in Kangaroo Valley. We are
surrounded by food and past fears of running
out of food are not relevant in this area.
Plan ahead
Decide on a menu, using foods in season.
That’s an easy task in Australia because we
have an abundance of summer berries,
mangoes and stone fruit – all delicious and
usually appealing to all ages. It makes sense to
decide on fruit and vegetable purchases while
you’re at the shops and can see what is fresh
and reasonably priced, but make a shopping
list for other items. That will help in avoiding
overcrowding the fridge and pantry with stuff
that will be thrown away if it’s not needed.
Avoiding waste also means thinking about
using leftovers for a meal over the holiday
period. Recipes for using leftover turkey and
ham can b found in books or on the Internet. If
you’re not going to use these or other leftover
foods quickly, use the freezer. Place individual
meal-sized portions into freezer storage bags or
containers and label them so you know what they
are in the weeks or months ahead.
Planning also makes sense for the waist. Our
sedentary, food-filled lifestyle means that almost
everyone will get fat unless they take steps to
avoid eating and drinking more than they need.
Survey the food and start with a
small serve
At a buffet party, first check out what’s on offer.
One study found that overweight people tend to
start straight off at one end of a buffet table and
move right along it whereas thinner people walk
up and down and make a decision before taking
anything.
For the waist, take a small plate, knowing that if
you finish what you have taken and really want
more, you can usually go back for seconds.
Few people do because they find they’re satisfied
with a smaller quantity.
Handle waste wisely
When we get together, many of us forget our
usual habit of recycling and just dump
everything in the rubbish bin. Don’t. Compost
anything compostable and don’t forget the
chooks will appreciate some leftovers too.
Recycle all cardboard and paper wrappings and
at a party, set out separate boxes or bins for
bottles and cans.
Get leftovers into the fridge or freezer quickly.
Ham, turkey and other forms of poultry freeze
well. Some vegies can also go into the freezer.
If I have leftover cream, I spoon it into ice
block trays and when it’s frozen, you can pop
the frozen cubes of cream into a freezer bag,
ready for a later date when you want a small
amount of cream to smooth the texture of a
sauce or a pasta dish.
My new book
If you’re looking for a Christmas present, you
might like to consider my new book The
Choice Guide to Food – how to look after your
health, your budget and the planet.
It’s published by Choice Books through
NewSouth Publishing and is currently
available with a 20% discount offer from their
website (http://nsbk.us/ChoiceFood.) or from
bookshops in Bowral
The topics discussed include butter or
margarine; energy drinks; sugars and artficial
sweeteners; yoghurt and probiotics; the hope
and the hype over antioxidants; salt; which
milk; which oil; nuts; tea; coffee; chocolate
and more.
My aim was to look at areas of contention such
as why eggs were once considered ‘good’, then
were regarded as ‘bad’ and are now ‘good’
again (although they’ve always been ‘good’ in
my book).