Sustainable eating and food waste in tourism

In Cerklje na Gorenjskem, you can buy local products at the Cerklje Market (Cerkljanska tržnica), from local farms, from milk and egg vending machines and from other local food providers. By choosing seasonal and locally grown food, we support local producers, shorten transport distances and help preserve the area’s culinary heritage.

Tips for zero food waste from the public utility company Voka Snaga:

A random bin on the street reveals that a lot of food ends up in the rubbish – bread, baked goods, dairy products, and fruit and vegetables – mainly because we don’t plan our food consumption, we buy and prepare more food than we need, and we don’t know how to make good use of leftovers. Reducing the amount of food we throw away doesn’t require us to turn our lives upside down. With small, simple changes, we will enjoy more varied meals and save money at the same time.

1. Download an app for recipes or for making shopping lists. Ideally both. That way, you’ll always have ideas to hand for what to do with food you’re about to throw away.
2. Don’t go shopping hungry, or you’ll certainly buy lots of things you don’t need. Always take a shopping list, otherwise you’ll shop mindlessly. Don’t go shopping every day either – the fridge is never that empty. Instead, set aside one or two days a week for shopping, and then deliberately skip at least one of those days every month.
3. Don’t buy products just because they’re on offer. Are you really sure you’ll eat an XXXXXXL pack of sesame pretzel sticks in the next few months? Be honest with yourself – is it even something you would otherwise put on your shopping list?
4. Eat your food, save it for later or freeze it.
5. When it comes to your fridge, always follow the FIFO principle – First In, First Out. (opens in a new tab) Fresh ingredients take priority; a tin of tuna will keep until the next Olympics.
6. An unsightly vegetable or a soft piece of fruit is a matter of form, not substance. Make use of their nutrients in a soup or a smoothie. A drink from a dented can still tastes exactly the same.
7. Cook with your head, not your eyes. If you cook while hungry, you’ll definitely cook too much. If you don’t know how much to cook so that it’s just right, use a portion calculator. If you still end up cooking too much, freeze the food. It will certainly come in handy one rainy Sunday afternoon.
8. Leftovers only look unappetising, but in reality they are just as good as when they were a fresh meal.
9. Once a week, make yourself a surprise meal. Gather up what’s in your cupboards and you’ll be surprised to discover everything you have hidden away at home.
10. Play the ‘empty the fridge’ game and make sure it’s your guilty conscience that goes hungry, not you.

What about when you eat out?

If you can’t eat everything you’ve ordered, ask the waiter to pack up the food for you to take home – or, better still, bring some containers with you. There’s nothing shameful about taking home food you couldn’t finish and reheating it for dinner. After all, you paid for it, and it’s a shame for edible food to end up in the bin. And think about it – if you buy too much at the shop, do you leave the groceries behind in the shop? So why would you do that in a restaurant?

Source: Zero Food Waste | JP VOKA SNAGA (opens in a new tab)

Want to find out more? Discover sustainability content, tips, guidelines and activities of the Cerklje na Gorenjskem Green Destination on our 👉 Green Destination page.