Why you should never throw away rice, cheese or potatoes
Animal experts are urging consumers to stop disposing of cheese, rice, and potatoes this winter for a heartbreaking reason.
The UK wastes a staggering 9.5 million tonnes of food every single year, according to Bartec Municipal Technologies.
A significant portion of this is edible and could be used to help keep the dwindling bird population alive this Christmas, according to The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB).
As the temperature drops and natural food resources freeze over, the charity is urging British households to avoid binning their leftovers and instead use them to keep birds’ energy levels high.
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A plea, posted on the official RSPB website, claims that mild grated cheese is the perfect food to keep robins, wrens, and dunnocks fed, warm, and functioning through November and beyond.
This trio can apparently digest fermented dairy products. However, it’s best to avoid putting out unwanted soft or salty cheeses like Brie.
Other kitchen scraps that the fowl will enjoy picking at include bruised fruit, cooked rice, unsalted bits of hard fat and dry, uncooked porridge oats.
Soft-billed birds like thrushes and blackbirds will also be the first to feed on your discarded fruit, while many others will enjoy chewing on cooked, unsalted rice.
The charity said that rice can help the animals stay warm, but it should be offered as part of a balanced diet with proteins and vitamins.
Your leftover roast potatoes can also be put in the garden for the birds to nibble on.
It’s imperative that these are broken down into smaller pieces, are not salted or dressed in other seasonings.
To prevent weight gain, you should occasionally give them ultra-processed potato products, such as chips or crisps.
Unsalted, hard fat pieces should also be your go-to. These include pure fats like lard or suet.
You can even create your own full-fat, high-energy bird cakes, says the charity.
The recipe, which is available to browse via the RSPB’s website, will likely attract robins, tits, and blackbirds.
If you don’t want to put old food out in your garden, then you can purchase calorie-rich foods like mixed seed, sunflower seeds, and good-quality peanuts instead.
The RSPB has also warned that not all kitchen staples are good for animals to digest.
“Cooking fat from the roast mixes with meat juices during cooking to make a runny, greasy mixture,” they stated. “This sticks to feathers and stops them from being waterproof.
“Also, avoid dried coconut, cooked porridge oats, milk, and mouldy or salted food. “
Ella Scott