If a supermarket were designed to reduce food waste, it might look quite different.

Would the frozen food come first? Would fresh and frozen sit side-by-side, offering customers the choice?

What could a fridge-freezer look like, were it designed differently and with food waste in mind?

Well, the freezer might be a bit bigger for a start – to encourage us, perhaps, to buy more frozen food, especially that which could replace highly wasted fresh items.

I’m sure many of us fill up our freezers, leaving little room for new frozen finds and befuddling us as to what’s already in there …

In this article I suggest eating from the freezer (at least) once a week, not only as a way of making meal planning/ life easier, but also as a method of freeing up space.

(And it’s a good way of not wasting food and saving money – you’ve already paid for the food in your freezer, so it makes sense to use it up.)

The freezer acts as a pause button

Food in a freezer won’t go bad and most bacteria cannot grow in it, according to the Food Standards Agency (FSA).

But there is a risk that the freezer, no matter what size, becomes just another stage in the waste journey – a waiting room for unloved and unused food on its way to the bin.

Freezers tend to be opened less frequently than fridges, as the products inside are accessed less often.

The secret is making sure that what goes in comes out again to be used as delicious dinners and mouth-watering meals, saving time, money, and food waste.

Organising the freezer is probably not going to spark much joy

But it’s worth working out what some of those Unidentified Frozen Objects might be and having a bit of a sort out: make a note of what’s in there, group product types, label the UFOs.

By eating frozen/ from the freezer (who’s up for Friday Freezer Nights?) and organising the space a little, you’ll be making room for all those lovely swaptions. Click here to read my top 10.

With more space, you can think and shop frozen first.

And there are other benefits to making room in your life for frozen food – luxury ingredients, restaurant style at home, and fruit for your smoothie all year round.

What’s not to love?

By Helen White, Associate Director Tetra Tech