Home stretch

Shopping smarter and avoiding waste can help reduce your food costs.

- Jennifer Bowden

Question:

Many of us are feeling the pinch. How can I reduce food costs while still providing healthy family meals?

Answer:

Annual food prices rose by 7.6 % last month, with fruit and vegetable prices up by a whopping 18% compared with March last year. Added to climbing fuel costs and rising interest rates, there is plenty for New Zealanders to be concerned about budget-wise.

Indeed, in a recent Consumer NZ survey, 98% of respondents reported being worried about the cost of groceries, with 84% acknowledging they had had to remove items from their trolley because of the cost.

Although there’s little we can do to influence the duopoly that is our supermarket system, we can certainly reduce food costs by choosing wisely, preparing our meals carefully and avoiding wastage. Here are some simple tips to get you started:

Convenience costs money.

• Conveniently packaged, processed or prepared food costs more. By forgoing a little convenience, your food bill can be substantially reduced.

• Buy standard fresh vegetables rather than prepared ones. For example, one iceberg lettuce is half the price of a packet of mixed lettuce leaves.

• Prepared sauces, flavoured rice and so forth are costly. Using recipes from the old faithful Edmonds Cookery Book, you can easily make your own.