A new free meal planner and recipe book from Love Food Hate Waste is making dinnertime easier for Kiwi families as the cost of food rises.
The book, called Easy Choice – Family Kai, aims to help feed families healthily and cheaply while reducing how much food is going to waste. It consists of four weeks of five dinner meal plans that will feed a family of six for about $60 a week.
A ‘lifesaver’ when circumstances changed
For West Auckland mother Kimberley Manning, Easy Choice was a lifesaver when she became unemployed and found herself struggling financially.
“I thought I had hit the jackpot,” said Manning, who was introduced to Easy Choice through the pilot programme run last year.
“I was surprised that I could make so many meals for only $60. It has made a real difference to our financial situation as the meal planner ensures we can stick to our food budget."
Sharing new-found knowledge
Manning is so enamoured with Easy Choice – Family Kai that she is now planning to hold free cooking classes to share the resource with other people.
“I didn’t know how to cook very well to begin with and was really struggling to work within my food budget.
"I know that there are many other families out there in the same position so I’m keen to pass on the skills I have learnt and tell other people about Easy Choice.”
About Easy Choice – Family Kai
Easy Choice developed out of an initiative started by the Fresh Choice supermarkets in Ranui and Glen Eden, which were offering all the ingredients for the five dinners in the meal planner for a family of 6 at a guaranteed price of $60.
Love Food Hate Waste saw the opportunity to extend the concept nationwide to allow more families to access cheap and healthy meals no matter where they lived.
Research shows that meal planning is one of the most effective ways to reduce food waste. With Kiwi families throwing away on average three shopping trolleys of food a year, meal planning can make a real difference to how much money they are spending and what they are eating.
You can download the Autumn 'Easy Choice – Family Kai' meal planner and recipe book for free. It is the first of four seasonal booklets.
Easy Choice was made possible with the support of Auckland Council.
