Moving? What To Do With Your Food?
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Moving? What To Do With Your Food?

Dec 15, 2021 Food is among the last things you should deal with when moving house because you cannot pack and move most of it. Perishable items like vegetables, fruits, prepared meals, frozen foods, and dairy products quickly spoil, which is why removalists in Gold Coast advise people against taking them along. Spoiled or rotten edibles cause bad smells and become breeding hubs for pathogens that cause serious foodborne illnesses. They can also leak fluids inside the moving truck soiling moving boxes, carpets, furniture, mattress and other property contents. What should you do with your food? Here are things you must know and do to avoid food wastage during a house move. Have a look.

Why Is It Important To Prevent Food Wastage?

Your prime aim while sorting through food supplies in your home before a move should be to reduce food wastage for the following reasons. • It is a major problem Australia is facing as it costs the economy over $36.6 billion annually. • Food wastage also contributes to water wastage, as the resource is used to grow produce. For example, throwing a burger equals wasting the water it takes to have a 90 minutes shower. • Food waste that ends up in landfills creating 3% of greenhouse gas emissions of the country. • Wasting food is never economical, and when you have to plan a move on a tight budget, even fixed expenses of groceries can weigh on you. Therefore, consume perishable foods in your house before your hired removalists in Gold Coast arrive for the move.

Create An Inventory

As soon as the moving date is finalised and you start packing, create a food inventory to categories different types of edibles and drinks in your home. Start with consumables in your kitchen, pantry and refrigerator. This step will make the sorting process a lot easier and quicker, as during inventory you can mention the location of the food item, its type, sustainability and more.

Remove Expired and Spoiled Foods

While creating the inventory, check labels of frozen, canned and packed foods to determine their expiry date and discard things past the mentioned date. Additionally, smell produce, dairy products, meats and other items to ascertain they are good, spoiled or going bad. After segregating expired and spoiled foods from edible ones, discard them responsibly, ensuring organic waste is separated from paper, cardboard and plastic waste. Note: Even when not moving house, you should remain mindful of expiry dates of food items and consume them while they are edible. Additionally, store fresh produce, poultry, dairy products and meats in the refrigerator and consume them before anything goes bad.

Consume What You Can

Check what food items you and other household members can consume until the day you move out. Make a plan to use boxed, canned, refrigerated, frozen and bottled food items in addition to pantry staples such as flour, sugar, spices, oil etc. If you have a surplus of things that you cannot consume before your hired removalists arrive on the moving day, pack and donate what you can. Locate food banks or charities near you and ask what kinds of edibles they accept. Usually, food banks and charities accept canned, packed, dry and bottled consumables with long shelf lives. While donating food, make sure it is collected by the organisation or delivered by you in the shortest period.

Start Rationing A Few Weeks Before Moving

One of the best ways to avoid food wastage and getting surplus supplies is to shop for groceries mindfully before moving. Instead of buying goods for the entire month, shop for them on a weekly basis and only get supplies when previous ones are over. Rationing is necessary to prevent edibles from going bad/expiring and saving money while moving. Only keep things you need for making nutritious meals until you move out of the property.

Set Aside Food For Moving Day

You will need snacks, beverages and meals on the moving day and maybe even for the first day in your new home. Prepare sandwiches or any other easy to carry food you and your family can consume during the journey. To prevent consumables from spoiling or spilling, store them in food-grade containers. Keep the edibles in the essential bags of each family member to make sure they can eat the meals/snacks whenever required.

The Bottom Line

You have to manage various tasks during a house move, among which taking care of the food in your home before moving is a major one. Packing and moving perishable food items are not viable options, as they will rot and spoil in the moving boxes without temperature control. Thus, in addition to hiring professional removalists in Gold Coast for managing your move, you should follow the tips shared above to prevent food wastage.