Food

Eating more locally produced seasonal food means less imported food and less air miles.  It might also mean you can try some new and interesting food AND you will be supporting local businesses.

Buy seasonal: Buying food when it's in season in the UK is a great way to reduce food miles and could also save you money. Check out this guide to seasonal fruit and vegetables from the Vegetarian Society.

Shop local: Consider buying some of your food from local producers. It's a good way to Buy Local and reduce the carbon footprint of your produce.

Eat more grains and veg: Producing meat industrially uses more carbon per calorie than producing grains and vegetables, and reducing meat and dairy products from your diet could reduce an individual's carbon footprint from food by two-thirds, according to an Oxford study published in the journal Science. Just replacing one or two meat-based meals a week with a vegetarian option will significantly reduce your CO2 emissions over the course of a whole year.

Find out why eating more plant-based foods is good for you and for the planet.

Read more top tips on eating well whilst reducing your carbon footprint

• Reducing our food waste is a critical factor in mitigating the causes of climate change: It reduces methane emissions which is a 30% more powerful greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide; it conserves energy and resources and, as an extra bonus for you, it saves you money and supports the community.
• Community food collections  
  Whether it's called a fridge, larder or pantry, there are many community food waste initiatives operating across the district that saves excess food from being wasted by supermarkets, businesses and allotments and offers it to residents, often free of charge to everyone in the Community.  Find out more about Community Fridges across our area
• OLIO
  Olio is an international scheme that redistributes edible waste food from businesses and households, and offers them to you for free or a fraction of the original price. This prevents buying more food and waste! Download the Olio app.
• Food waste collections
  In Autumn 2021 we undertook a three month food waste collection trial with one hundred varied households across the District. from the trial we learnt that in three months:
  • Each household on average recycled over 3kg of food waste per week.
  • General waste per household was cut on average from 6kg to 4kg per week.
  • This means that the quantity of household waste each week was reduced by one third!

  Visit our dedicated food waste webpage for more information and useful tips on minimising your food waste and maybe saving on your grocery bills in the process.

Grow your own fruit and veg.....
There's no better time than now to think about growing your own produce.  You don't need a massive garden to grow your own - just some herb pots on your window sill is  a start, or perhaps grow some vegetables in pots on your patio if you don't have a garden. Check out the RHS simple guide to growing your own

There are many local groups in the Horsham District who can give advice and encouragement. Some, such as Transition Horsham, also organise seed swaps  - so whilst you benefit form fresh home grown food you can also feel virtuous for helping to protect the planet as your plants absorb carbon dioxide.

....whilst protecting the environment
The advantages of growing your own can also have benefits for wildlife if you include:

1. Planting some bee-friendly flowers and help to protect some important wildlife.
2. Protecting an important habitat by only using peat free compost!  There are some very good alternatives.
3. Add a wildflower section and or pond to your garden and consider leaving some areas of grass to grow long to encourage wildlife and increase your garden's biodiversity.

• Home composting is the most environmentally-friendly way of dealing with unwanted kitchen and garden waste, plus it produces compost that can be used as an excellent soil improver.
• Composting is useful in all gardens. Only in the very smallest gardens will it be difficult to find space for a compost heap and material to fill it. Owners of such small plots could consider worm composting instead. The RHS is a great place to start thinking about composting.
• HOT BIN TRIALS: Here at Horsham District Council we trialled a Hot Bin with some of our residents to help transform unwanted food waste into rich compost.   We gave seven Horsham District families a Hot Bin and a food waste caddy each for the kitchen. The families weighed the food waste they put into the Hot Bin and provide feedback each month.  Find out how they got on.
  
  A Hot Bin can take anything from cooked food waste (including bones) to peelings and turn it into rich compost in 30 – 90 days by heating the waste up to 60°C. The result is a nutrient-rich compost for your garden for minimal effort and reduced food waste in your rubbish bin.

FIND OUT MORE

• Allotments in the Horsham District
  https://www.horsham.gov.uk/parks-and-countryside/allotments.
• Community gardening: Find a local gardening group
  https://www.rhs.org.uk/get-involved/find-a-group