Until recently I had dismissed her views as being those of someone who had lived through a war and had to scrimp and save every last available scrap of food – con- sequently to her, modern life is very wasteful.

But even I was shocked to discover this week that in the UK a staggering £8 billion worth of food goes to waste a year – this equates to 6.7 million tonnes, or a third of our total purchases.

I can't help but put some of the blame for this on the door of supermarkets who are always encouraging us to buy more, with three for two offers and the such like. After all, few of us can resist a bargain.

But how often do we stop and really think about what we are buying?

Do we really need to buy two bags of satsumas for £2, when one at £1.20 would be sufficient?

And is the 40p saving real? How do we know a bag of satsumas the week before wasn't £1 and the price has just been pushed up to make us buy more?

I did have to laugh to myself however, when a so-called "shopping expert" (how do you get to be one of those? Can I have a job, please?) told listeners on Radio 4's Today programme to avoid wasteful buying we should (are you ready for this?): "not buy food we don't need and make sure what we did buy was well within its sell by date".

Well, you don't say.

Joking aside, I do think we should give more thought to what we buy.

I have definitely noticed my weekly shopping bill has gone up significantly in the last few months - I used to be able to get everything I wanted for a family of three in a week below £100, I now think I have done well if it is under £120.

I do know I am guilty of buying too much.

And as Peterborough gears itself up for its Green Festival later this month, perhaps now is the time for us all to consider ways in which we can reduce the amount of food and other rubbish we throw away.

Scrolling through the worldwide web, I discovered a really useful website called www.organizeit.co.uk and on it there was an article called Seven Ways You Can Stop Wasting Food and Help Save The Earth.

The advice included:

• Eat out less – to help you control portion sizes and therefore limit waste.


• Don't go shopping on an empty stomach.


• Write a shopping list – to help you keep to what you actually need.


• Shop more often and therefore buy less.


• Only buy what you will definitely eat.


• Use your freezer – food can arguably be stored in a freezer indefinitely.


• Set a budget – if you set out how much money you are going to spend, you are more likely to buy stuff you need. The best approach is to take cash and leave your card at home.

Sound advice indeed. I am determined to give it a go