*This post contains my referral link for the Earth & Wheat website*
Food waste is a big problem – and I’m still trying to do my bit to combat it. No matter how small an individual contribution may seem, it all adds up – and there’s plenty you can do!
As well as being more mindful of your own food waste at home (not over-shopping, using up leftovers, freezing vegetables that are turning – or making them into soups, stews or pasta sauces), there are ways you can help to reduce the amount of food waste that’s created by food and drink businesses, too. I’ve written before about the TooGoodToGo app, which sells food that would otherwise have gone to waste at a discount to consumers – and I still use the app when I get a chance. But I’ve recently discovered another service that keeps our household well-stocked with bread products at a fraction of the normal price, and makes me feel great about helping the environment too.
Did you know that 1/3 of all food that is produced is wasted, or that 24 million pieces of bread are wasted in the UK every day? They’re scary stats – and figures I only became aware of when I read the leaflet that came with my first Earth & Wheat subscription box. The UK’s first wonky bread subscription service, they connect people with bakeries who have surplus supply or products that don’t quite fit their appearance standards, with a range of different plans to suit all household sizes.
The same leaflet explains that each box rescues 3053 grams of CO2, with a year’s weekly membership saving 156kg of CO2 – the same emissions as heating a house for three weeks. What’s more, for every box Earth & Wheat sells, they donate a meal’s worth of bread to UK food banks or food charities to help combat food poverty.
You can choose from four different subscription options: weekly, for £6.89 per week; or fortnightly, every three weeks or every month, all priced at £6.99 per box. I also love the fact that if you find you’ve still got bread to get through when your next delivery is due, you can pause your subscription while you catch up.
Earth & Wheat also make it very clear that you can freeze all of the bread you receive, making it easy to simply defrost what you need each day. It’s a great solution for our house – I’ve sadly lost track of the number of times we’ve not quite managed to get through a whole loaf of bread before it turns…
It seemed like a no-brainer. So, I signed up for a fortnightly delivery on June 19th, with my first box arriving on June 22nd, and an email the day before to let me know that it was on its way.
Delivered in a cardboard box that had also been rescued from being wasted, and with all of the packaging 100% recyclable and biodegradable (including the plastic bread bags!), I was impressed. And the contents impressed me just as much.
Each different item was individually packaged, with the best before date, product description and allergen information clearly labelled, along with a URL to visit for a full ingredient list, allergy info and nutritional information.
Unpacking my first Earth & Wheat box, I found:
- Plain tortilla wraps
- Seeded tortilla wraps
- White pitta
- Garlic and coriander naan breads
- Crumpets
- Lemon and raisin pancakes
A pretty impressive assortment, and an amazing quantity of bread products for £6.99! The website states that there’s a variety of other products your box could also include – anything from focaccia, sourdough crumpets and buttermilk pancakes to folded and Mediterranean-style flatbreads.
After two weeks, we’ve nearly finished everything, using the remaining wraps for fajitas tonight. It’s been great to be able to freeze everything and just defrost when needed, without having to worry about the dates on the products – and with our delivery arriving on the 22nd, everything was dated the 25th so we used some bits from fresh.
Everything we’ve tried so far has been delicious, and the pancakes have been a particular hit with the toddler, both at breakfast time and as an afternoon snack. Since I subscribed to Earth & Wheat, I’ve only once bought any bread products – a single pack of brioche rolls for burgers – and it’s definitely saved me money, as well as saving these products from being wasted.
There’s even a “Manage Subscription” section on the website, where you can login to view your subscription, change the frequency of deliveries, pause your subscription if you’ve over-ordered, and where you can find your referral code. Currently, everyone who signs up using your unique code will receive £1 off their first box, and you’ll also receive £1 off your next box, too.
Interested in subscribing to Earth & Bread? Feel free to use my referral link for £1 off your first box (and to give me £1 off my next box too!) by clicking here.