By working closely with caterers and event staff, your celebration can also be a an environmental success by reducing the waste simply by asking them to provide the leftovers to OzHarvest, Second Bite,FareShare, Food Bank or other organisations that support the homeless by distributing surplus food.
Planning food volumes with your caterer makes them aware of your concerns and together you will be able to minimise the amount of food wasted. It's important that you factor in the number of guests attending and communicate these details properly to your caterer. That way, they can get the number and quantity of food as close as possible.
A good caterer will know how to minimise portions not options. Most people can't eat more than 500g of food for dinner. A buffet with too much variety means that people can't sample everything whereas an a la carte menu can mean less wastage as the portions can be controlled and the options are limited.
When planning your menu consider sourcing lower environmental impact food choices, for example, you can use the Australian Marine Conservation Society’s Sustainable Seafood Guide.
Some other ideas are to plan your menu around what's in season at the time of your event and use local produce as much as possible which will help reduce the packaging and transporting the food vast distances.
Think Eat Save is an anti-food waste and food loss campaign that encourages you to reduce your foodprint. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), every year 1.3 billion tonnes of food is wasted. At the same time, one in every seven people in the world go to bed hungry and more than 20,000 children under the age of five die every day of hunger. Think Eat Save encourages people to become more aware of the environmental impact of the food choices they make and take informed decisions. Think Eat Save provides great advice on their website on how to reduce your food waste.
Another great resource is Love Food Hate Waste.
