In the UK we waste around one third of the food we buy every year, which works out to be about £800 per household. With this serious food waste catastrophe, it is very important to buy food we will eat, and if possible to use seasonal, local British ingredients, not only for our health, as they have fewer preservatives and chemicals and be fresher, but also to decrease our carbon footprint as well as supporting British farmers. 

A good example of our work to achieve this was when recently, in our Food and Nutrition class, we made pasties. Making these pasties is a great way of reducing food waste, as instead of throwing away meat, vegetables, and other food items towards the end of their shelf life, you can use them to fill the pasties and create a delightful meal! 

We learned that the secret to making short and crumbly pastry is using cold, unsalted butter, adding a little water, using our skills to judge how much, and importantly to avoid kneading the dough which will stop the gluten development that makes the pastry tough. Making these pasties is also very affordable. The cost of the recipe for our 8 pasties was only £1.36!  

I enjoyed the lesson tremendously, they turned out delicious and my family really enjoyed them! 

Luisa, Upper IV