Kings and queens of the leftovers

Students cooked up some inventive, tasty soups to show families how they can save up to £700 a year by using discarded food. 

The Culinary Arts Management undergraduates battled it out to be the kings and queens of the leftovers as part of an initiative run by Central England Co-operative and Love Food Hate Waste. 

The challenge was part of Love Food Hate Waste’s two-year 10 cities campaign in Birmingham, which is supported by the Co-operative and aims to help households save hundreds of pounds a year by preventing food waste. 

Seven students went head to head in a cook-off in the Food Innovation Suite at the Summer Row site and impressed the judges with their flair and imagination. The top three recipes were: onion broth with crispy spinach and chilli oil by Carla Buckley; “pick & mix” vegetable soup by Terry Ann Miller-Partoon; and spring greens soup with garlic croutons by Martha Pearce.  All three winners received Co-operative gift vouchers as prizes. 

According to Love Food Hate Waste, which is part of national charity WRAP (the Waste & Resources Action Programme), almost half of the total amount of food thrown away in the UK comes from domestic homes. 

Viktoria Salisbury, Community Partnership Project Manager for Love Food Hate Waste, said: “Soup is a brilliant and easy way to use up all sorts of leftovers. By making the most of our leftovers to reduce food waste from our homes, families with children could save up to £700 per year and help ensure that more of the food that is produced is actually used.”