Inspiring videos

At the Scrap Lunch event on 4 May we screened a number of videos that addressed food waste. Some of you have asked to see these, so here they are, in one handy playlist!

Links from Chris (Speaker at the lunch)

If you attended the project Lunch on 4 May you'll have heard Chris speak and mention some useful links. If you weren't there these links are just as interesting, they provide lots of local information for those interested in (growing) good, local, fresh food!

Find them (and many more) on our links page.

Radio show about the Scrap Lunch

Two members of the Scrap Lunch Project group were honoured to be invited as guests on the Studentradion 98,9 program Föda yesterday! We talked about keeping food fresh, what to look for when grocery shopping, and gardening on a kolonilott.

Listen here: https://soundcloud.com/studentradion98-9/sets/f-da#play

(In Swedish).

Food = Water

"It takes about 20,000 litres of water to produce one kilogram of coffee 11,000 litres for one quarter-pounder hamburger, between 2000 and 5000 litres for a kilogram of rice, and 2000 to 4000 litres for one litre of milk. We grow twice as much food today as we did a generation ago, but we use three times as much water to grow it. To quench the thirst of these crops, many are highly irrigated, and much of the water is being pumped from underground reserves, which take eons to replenish."

-David Suzuki, The Sacred Balance

Reducing food waste is one very positive step you can take towards conserving our precious fresh water resources!

Address the Excess

According to a report by the Natural Resources Defense Council, Americans are tossing up to 40 percent of the food supply each year, along with all the resources used to produce food that never gets eaten. Food waste occurs at home, on the farm, and in supermarkets.

In this TED Talk, NRDC's executive director Peter Lehner explores the low-tech, tried-and-true solutions proven to reduce food waste and save money for consumers and businesses alike. It's essential that we start putting more of these solutions into action.

  

Grilling desserts

As the weather warms up, Swedes tend to gravitate towards outdoorsy activities. The communal barbecue is a pertinent pastime and no student life would be the same without this cheap, easy, and entertaining form of cookery. As a beautiful welcome to the beginning of the mosquito season, a group of Kalmar friends gathered in the garden at dusk to bathe in the scent of smoking coals and good food. 

This citrus spoon cake is based on a simple pound cake recipe (1 lb butter: 1 lb sugar: 1 lb flour). With some leftover lemon icing, a little extra flour, some old cream that was beginning to sour, and one egg; the traditional pound cake was transformed into a soft and gooey mess that was absolutely scrumptious served with grilled pears leftover from The Scrap Lunch workshop event, and gingery apple syrup made with old apple juice and ginger peels.

Citrus Spoon Cake

250 g butter, at room temperature

250 g sugar

1 egg

zest and juice of 2 lemons

zest and juice of 2 oranges

350 g flour

2 dl cream

With an electric whisk, beat together the butter and sugar until creamy and pale.

Add the egg and whisk to combine.

Beat in the juice and zest.

Add the flour and stir it in gently with a spatula. Be careful not to mix it too much as the liquids will activate the gluten formation and will result in a rubbery cake.

Add the cream and stir it in until well combined.

Transfer the batter to a cake tin.

Bake at 160 degrees Celsius for 40 minutes. When it's ready, the cake will no longer wobble in the middle when shaken and a knife inserted into the middle will come out clean.

Gingery Apple Syrup

500 ml apple juice

1 tbsp ginger peels

Place everything in a small pot and let it simmer and reduce until you have a ginger-infused syrup left in the bottom of the pot. 

This syrup can be stored in the fridge forever.

Grilled Pears

use however many pears you and your friends want to eat

Slice the pears into cheeks (like a mango). You can save the rest for making jam or chutney, or a simple fruit salad.

Place the pears cut side down onto the grill over a low to medium heat. You don't want the temperature to be too hot otherwise the sugar content will cause the pears to burn before they becomes soft in the middle.

Turn the pear slices over and grill until both sides are golden brown and a knife can be inserted easily through the thickest part.

Spread the pears onto a plate and let them cool for 5-10 minutes.

Serve with citrus spoon cake, gingery apple syrup and whipped cream.

Cathy Xiao Chen

Banana and Almond Loaf

Have you ever wondered what to do with overripe and blackened bananas? Or maybe you're like me and you're not really a fan of the flavour of blackening bananas and want a recipe that will use up the bananas without highlighting the overripe flavours. If you don't want to make this straight away, you can peel the bananas and put them into the freezer for a few weeks then let them defrost in the fridge overnight before using.

I based this recipe on the basic pound cake ratio of equal parts butter, sugar and flour. It's incredibly easy to make and vary to your own preferences and doesn't require any special equipment. To make this a little more fancy than your conventional banana bread, I added some lemon zest and juice, and sliced almonds scattered on top for contrasting texture. I also reduced the amount of sugar as bananas convert their carbohydrates to sugars when they ripen which is why ripe bananas are more sweet than underripe ones.

Banana & Almond Loaf

200 g butter, at room temperature

120 g sugar

2 overripe bananas, peeled

1 lemon, zest and juice

200 g flour

a small handful of sliced almonds

Beat the butter and sugar together in a large bowl until it becomes lighter in colour and creamy. You can use a whisk or a wooden spoon for this job.

Break up the bananas and mix them into the butter with the lemon zest and juice.

Fold through the flour gently and stir until just combined.

Line a loaf tin with some baking paper and leave the excess hanging out to make it easy to take out afterwards.

Transfer the batter into the tin and use a spoon to smooth the top.

Sprinkle over the sliced almonds and bake in the oven for 40 minutes at 170 degrees Celsius.

Turn the tin around after 20 minutes to make sure it cooks evenly.

When it's done, remove from the oven and allow it to cool for a while, then use the baking paper hanging out to pull the loaf out of the tin.

Cathy Xiao Chen