Theresa May show the way on food waste – Helen Martin

THERESA May earned applause last week – though of course, it had nothing to do with Brexit. Scraping the mould off her jam revealed that she doesn’t believe in food waste, and it started a healthy debate which had nothing to do with the EU, no-deal, or the World Trade Organisation.

Children should be taught how to cook properly to reduce the amount of food waste. Picture: Getty

Scotland ditches 1.35 million tonnes of food a year (UK figures stand at around 10.2 million). And such grim habits have to change if we can hit the government target of a 33 per cent reduction by 2025.

Buying too much food, more than the household is going to eat before it goes off, is a major problem. Failing to properly wrap food with cling-film, foil or whatever is necessary to keep it fresh and moist in the fridge, is another. And deciding what meal is going to be cooked by yummy preference rather than on the basis of what has to be used up first, is another food wastage “crime”.

Throwing out unused food makes me feel guilty and irresponsible. I confess, I’m a bit obsessed with avoiding waste, probably because of my maturity. In the days before everyone shopped in supermarkets and post-war folk still remembered rationing, I was just a kid. But wasting food wasn’t acceptable. Tossing it in the bin began in the late 60s and early 70s but even then, domestic science classes in schools still taught pupils how to make the most of anything lurking in the fridge or cupboard.

Most houses having a freezer (or even a freezer drawer at the top of the fridge) became a big help because any excess grub could be cooked up in soups or casseroles to be frozen and eaten the following week.

Living on ready meals bunged in the microwave came along and boosted wastage because increasingly, people didn’t have to learn how to cook from scratch.

Nowadays shoppers are extremely fussy about vegetables and fruit, thanks to supermarket standards, preservation and their rejection of twisted carrots or potatoes that look like bum cheeks.

We have an allotment. Caterpillars, pigeons and field mice might nibble the edges but once trimmed and washed, and little slugs removed, the rest tastes better than a bought version.

Now back to Theresa’s scrapes. Removing mould from jam or cheese makes sense to me. I ignore “best before” dates. Health bods insist that “use by” dates should be obeyed, but if it smells good, looks good, and a tiny portion nibble tastes good, I’m going to use it, not bin it. Soft tomatoes are fine for sauces and soft fruits are yelling “Crumble!”. Smell and taste milk or cream to establish “use by”. And if you buy a jar of pesto, replace every dessertspoon you use with a topping of olive oil if you want to avoid mould.

With food banks, and people starving across the world, how can anyone cheerfully chuck out edible grub? Is everyone aware that we all have to pay for coping with food waste? And if it fails to reduce, the only governmental tactic may well be to raise food prices so we all buy less and value it more.

School lessons on transgender equality, social media risks and other modern issues are fine. But the urgency of avoiding food waste certainly needs to be on the curriculum.

All domestic abuse victims deserve paid leave

SOUTH Ayrshire council has introduced a policy entitling any of their employees who are victims of domestic abuse or violence to as much as ten days’ paid leave.

It’s not a compensating “holiday”. It’s time and opportunity to have counselling, find another safe house, handle legal matters, go to court, and arrange necessary help for themselves and their children.

Astonishingly, they are the first local authority in Europe to offer this. A cynic I may be, but I had assumed that any decent employer, not just councils, would already have allowed time off for staff to deal with such a hellish nightmare. And how could any employer expect someone going through that to capably perform at work without such empathy and support?

Will Edinburgh follow suit? And will the Scottish Government add this to employment law – along with introducing a charge for employees to pay for work parking?

Ruth the First Minister? Don’t make me laugh

PARTY politics is rarely seen by the public as entertaining and funny. But hats off to interim Scottish Conservative leader Jackson Carlaw who has now caused hysterical guffaws by claiming that Ruth Davidson is likely to be the next First Minister.

In 1997 the Tories didn’t win a single seat in Scotland for Westminster, now they have 13 so no-one can deny the improvement.

But they’re all backing Brexit, which Scotland voted against. It’s generally acknowledged that Ms Davidson is highly rated by Theresa May and UK Tories. And there was strong suspicion that if she relocated and won a seat in England, she might one day become the PM. But First Minister of Scotland? About as much chance as Nigel Farage – or Homer Simpson.

Should prefabs sprout again?

THE best ever answer to UK housing shortage was the building of post-war prefabs – and some still exist today. The cost of current construction means “affordable” housing never is . . . affordable. But in November a Yorkshire firm launched three-bedroomed pre-fab homes costing £65k. Isn’t that a potential solution for Edinburgh’s crisis and soaring prices?