Here’s some scary Halloween food news for you from Lamb Weston, Cambridgeshire-based producer of potato products and fries for the UK’s most popular burger chain: In the UK up to 8 million pumpkins will come to a grave end this year, with 18,000 tonnes of edible food going straight to the bin!
Only 1 in 3 consumers choose to cook the flesh once carved, meaning the rest (66%) are wasted, not tasted.
Even more horrifying, pumpkins generate up to 448g CO2 equivalent per kilo – so they’re gruesome for greenhouse gas emissions too.
Enter Lamb Weston with a clever trick that could dramatically cut down on food waste and save up to 1.6m tonnes of CO2 per year – carving potatoes instead of pumpkins!
Cheaper to buy and easier to carve, potatoes are the UK’s favourite vegetable to eat^ and much more versatile for turning into a tasty meal after carving! Plus potatoes generate less than half the CO2 per kilo produced compared to a pumpkin.
Believe it or not, this isn’t a new idea as the original Jack-o’-lanterns were actually made from turnips and potatoes by the Irish!**
So it’s time to rethink old habits that are unhealthy for our planet and all hail the potato this Halloween. Take a look at some of our ideas, carve out some of your own and then love the leftovers in a delicious fright-night feast. Gourd for you and gourd for the planet too!
*Source: onegreenplanet.org Research by Hubbub & Knorr
**Goodhousekeeping.com
^Jongga Study, 2022 – UK’s favourite vegetable, (2,000 respondents)
For innovative ideas, recipes and potato inspiration, head over to www.lambweston.eu/uk, call 0800 963962 or email us at salesUK@lambweston.eu