Boo-oo-tiful bounty… carving out a solution to Hallowe’en’s haunting food waste In 2023, 39.9 million pumpkins were grown in the UK: 55% of them were never eaten. Scary. With the cost-of-living crisis and the increasing demands we make on our planet, there’s gotta be a way of doing better! Bulbous orange, pumpkins are a much-loved part of Hallowe’en, carved into ghoulish faces and lit by flickering tealights that evoke nightmares and monsters from fairytale and fable. It’s a great way for families to have a bit of fun. Let's have a look at pumpkins and how they're a much under-rated thing! (1/11) #FoodWaste #sustainability #ZeroWaste #ClimateChange #environment #halloween #pumpkins #jackolantern #SpookySeason #food #cooking #recipe #PumpkinRecipes #community #donation #composting #recycling #CircularEconomics #greenliving #reducewaste #foodcycle #CommunityGarden #CommunityCooking
Nathan Truesdale
1mo
But why are we wasting this wonderful grub!? Lots of reasons. Surveys indicate that 59% of us don’t know that pumpkin’s actually edible. Crikey! Why’s that? Well, let’s not get into how food education needs improving, nor how we’re too used to pre-packaged and processed food. And some large retailers (Tesco, we’re lookin’ at you) are blurring the lines by labelling some veg as “culinary pumpkin” and larger versions as “scarily good to carve”. This is a bit of sleight-of-hand, as all pumpkins are perfectly good to eat (Tesco list the nutritional content for their carvers online). So subconsciously, casual consumers may make the unnecessary distinction between the Culinary and the Creepy. (3/11)
Nathan Truesdale
1mo
A source of fibre, potassium and Vitamins C & A, pumpkin’s extremely versatile & great at soaking up other flavours. Whether it’s a sweet pumpkin’n’pecan pie, a rosemary and garlic-laden soup, a spiced pumpkin loaf or a creamy gratin, the flesh is filling and moreish. The skin also yields to roasting (just like a butternut squash) and the seeds will toast, roast or grind into a pesto for the more adventurous. Tesco notes that there’s a tenfold increase in people searching for pumpkin recipes via their website, so we’re improving our knowledge of what the humble pumpkin can do for us. (Yet this assumes a level of digital access and literacy, not to mention the knife and cooking skills, which may be underdeveloped in many circumstances.) (5/11)
Nathan Truesdale
1mo
Bulbous orange, pumpkins are a much-loved part of Hallowe’en, carved into ghoulish faces and lit by flickering tealights that evoke nightmares and monsters from fairytale and fable. It’s a great way for families to have a bit of fun. This year, “the bloody weather” means fewer pumpkins will be sold in the UK (of which more later), but even then, in October alone, of the 12.8 million sold for Hallowe’en, around 4.5 million will end up being chucked.
Nathan Truesdale
1mo
And at home, for those grinning ghoulish gargoyles that’ve given up the ghost, composting is great! Pumpkins dumped in the bin start rotting, producing harmful compounds like methane, a greenhouse gas with twenty times the warming potential of carbon dioxide. And just leaving outside for wildlife risks poisoning hedgehogs. So if you can’t compost at home, ask the neighbours, roll up to a local allotment or community kitchen garden – they’ll happily accept. Or, if like me you’ve a colleague with a wormery, let those little beasties do their work. (7/11)
Nathan Truesdale
1mo
So while that wastage might be on the downturn, it’s not going away overnight. So what can we do? Firstly, spread the word! Eat your pumpkins, people! Donate unused whole pumpkins to community kitchens (like @Foodcycle!) or animal sanctuaries which need a lot of feed to get rescue animals through the winter. Feed is a massive cost to sanctuaries, and the rescued animals love pumpkin! (6/11)
Nathan Truesdale
1mo
Sources: Oakley Farms: https://ogsuk.com/farms/pumpkins/ Tesco: https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/267420877 Bell’s Pumpkin Patch: https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/267420877 Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/oct/20/rain-and-slugs-blamed-for-this-years-green-tinged-halloween-pumpkins Love Food Hate Waste: https://www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/good-food-habits/halloween-make-most-your-pumpkin Sustainable Food Trust: https://sustainablefoodtrust.org/news-views/the-problem-with-pumpkins-reducing-food-waste-at-halloween/ Sustainable Food Trust: https://sustainablefoodtrust.org/news-views/battle-of-the-brave-root-the-story-of-the-carrot/ BioTech4: https://biotech4.co.uk/rise-of-the-pumpkin-patch/ Futurewaste: https://futurewaste.co.uk/bigger-pumpkins-could-create-900-tons-of-extra-halloween-food-waste/ BBC Good Food: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/health/nutrition/health-benefits-pumpkin Beneath the Woods: https://beneaththewoodsanctuary.co.uk/ (9/11)
Nathan Truesdale
1mo
So, this Hallowe’en, let’s enjoy our pumpkin! Carve it, eat the innards, compost what’s left, and donate any you’ve not used. Let’s all have fun and tackle the bogeymen of food waste, carbon emissions and the cost-of-living. (8/11) #FoodWaste #sustainability #ZeroWaste #ClimateChange #environment #halloween #pumpkins #jackolantern #SpookySeason #food #cooking #recipe #PumpkinRecipes #community #donation #composting #recycling #CircularEconomics #greenliving #reducewaste #foodcycle #CommunityGarden #CommunityCooking
Nathan Truesdale
1mo
Image credits: Culinary & Scarily good for carving pumpkin: Tesco Piggies & Pumpkins – Beneath the Woods and Farm Animal Rescue Sanctuary Pumpkin fields: Oakley Farm Pumpkins Aren’t Scary – Foodcycle at Hucknall, Nottinghamshire #FoodWaste #sustainability #ZeroWaste #ClimateChange #environment #halloween #pumpkins #jackolantern #SpookySeason #food #cooking #recipe #PumpkinRecipes #community #donation #composting #recycling #CircularEconomics #greenliving #reducewaste #foodcycle #CommunityGarden #CommunityCooking (11/11)
Nathan Truesdale
1mo
Recipes: Pumpkin many ways: https://www.bosh.tv/collection/pumpkin Pumpkin Skin Crisps: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbcaNVPTvhE Whole pumpkin use: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctzRIQHDcow Pumpkin seed pesto: https://drivemehungry.com/vegan-pumpkin-seed-pesto-with-parsley-and-basil/#recipe (10/11)
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1moAnd now: aesthetics. The Sustainable Food Trust’s shown that between 24% - 50% of carrots are rejected throughout the food chain based on appearance. Now, remember that oh-so-British weather we mentioned? This year, an initial crop of UK pumpkins failed, meaning a second was sewn. A less-than-ideal summer means that the Hallowe’en cohort are greener than usual, requiring ripening at home. As so many of us want our lanterns to be instantly Instagrammable, more & more consumers may chuck their pumpkins for not ripening quick enough, but green pumpkins matter too. (4/11)