A few weeks ago we could walk into a supermarket at all hours of the day and night and buy whatever we liked. Although it has always been a good idea to make a shopping list and stick to a meal plan, for most of us it wasn’t a big problem if we didn’t. It was so easy to pop into a shop and get what we needed when we needed it. Now there are some basic ingredients that are difficult to get hold of . Plus we have to try and stay two metres away from everyone else in the supermarket while shopping.

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Why did the picture change so dramatically so quickly? We kept being told there was plenty of food in the system. Everything would be just fine if we would only stop stockpiling. But we were also told various other things to with the general message being boiled down to stay at home.

It suddenly made sense to a lot of people to have some extra food in the house, so that they could stay at home. Britons made 80m extra grocery shops in a month . There have been reports of stockpiling around the world too. There are now a lot of full cupboards, fridges and freezers up and down the country.

Why do we need to make our food stretch?

1. It is difficult to top up our supplies in the same way we have been used to. Many jobs hang in the balance too and money may be tight for future grocery shops.
2. Food waste is terrible for the environment. It gives off methane in landfill which is a greenhouse gas far more potent than CO2
3. All that money we spent will go to waste too if the food ends up in the bin!

How can we make our food go further? By making a meal plan!

Are you ready for the Stretch Meal Plan Challenge to make Lockdown Food Last? Next week, starting Monday and ending on Sunday, I’m going to be running the challenge in my Reduce Your Food Waste Facebook Group. You can also join in the chat on Twitter and Instagram using the #StretchMealPlanChallenge and #MakeLockdownFoodLast hashtags and tag me on @ecothrifty. I would love to see your pictures of you doing the challenge on social media!

There are going to be 3 main parts to the challenge. I will provide lots of help and advice along the way, as well as tips for how to get the kids involved too.

1. To start off with we will be making an inventory of the food we have
2. Then we will think about ways we can stretch the food out.
3. By the end of the challenge, you have a meal plan that makes your food go as far as possible!

Join in the Stretch Meal Plan Challenge for a chance to win

***Update: THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED. The winner was selected and they received their prize. **

I’m also going to be running a competition alongside this too. One lucky person will win an e-copy of my book Eco Thrifty Living* and half an hour virtual one to one personalised coaching session with me over how to keep your food waste low. To be in with a chance to win:

1. Sign up to my mailing list – you will also get access to the first chapter of my book all about how to reduce your kitchen waste when you sign up.
2. Join the Reduce Your Food Waste Facebook group if you haven’t already
3. Comment on the pinned post that I will share in the Facebook group about the challenge.

The challenge will run between the 6th and 12th April 2020. The competition will open today on 2nd April 2020 and will close to new entries by midnight (UK time) 12th April 2020. There will be a pinned post with all the information you will need to join in the challenge in the Facebook group, which I will update throughout the challenge. For full t’s and c’s see here: Terms and conditions for the competition .

I look forward to chatting to you all in the Facebook group!