All members of the family - great and small.. can Stop Food Waste!

Either we’re not buying nearly as much fresh produce, cooking in more reasonable portion sizes or the god of food waste is looking kindly upon us, but there seems to be a distinct difference in the amount of rubbish we’re throwing out. And when I say rubbish, I mean food.

I’ll admit to being a little lazy on the compost front recently – only because we haven’t got around to buying an airtight compost container and we’ve only just got rid of the mouldy, rotting waste smell from the cupboard under our kitchen sink. (If I’m honest, we’re moving into our new house soon and are currently far more interested in painting swatches and liming finishes than buying airtight compost containers. We’re only human, right?)

So, that little lapse aside, we’re travelling pretty jauntily on the road to unnecessary waste in our kitchen. Except for one little thing. Or should I say two little things – our Burmese cats, Coco and Spikey. Let me start by saying these cats only eat food that comes from expensive little tins – a big can of normal cat food has never passed their small lips. Sometimes they prefer tinned tuna – the sandwich tuna in brine not the chunks. God forbid they should have to chew.

But they are so fussy and spoilt, sometimes they don’t eat their food at all - except the dry food, they always eat that – and the wet food goes in the bin. Well, actually it’s not wet by the time it goes in the bin, it’s all dried up. And it goes down the toilet because there’s really nothing worse than old cat food in your kitchen bin.

So what do you do about cats and food waste? I have no idea. The lectures aren’t working. We’ve tried not giving them any food in the evening but that’s like water torture for us since they’ll cry all night until you put some fresh food in their bowls. They won’t eat it, of course, but at least we can sleep.