August 22, 2025 • 8 mins
Growing your own vegetables is one way to stay sustainable in the kitchen, but it’s not the only way to keep your food habits sustainable.
It’s not just about the garden, there are simple kitchen swaps that reduce waste and packaging, and Kate Hall joined Jack Tame to run through a few of them, including:
- DIY basics: making your own yoghurt, bread, or soda water (less packaging, fewer additives).
- Preserving and fermenting (e.g. sauerkraut, kombucha) is cheap, healthy, and reduces food waste.
- Planning meals to avoid throwing out food. Focus on the “use what you have” mindset.
- Buying in bulk and refilling pantry staples.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack team podcast
from News Talks.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
There'd be time to catch up with that. Sustainability commentator
Kate Hall is here and she's talking sustainable food this morning.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
Good morning, Good morning Jack.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Do you know when I think of sustainable food, I
think of the obvious stuff like or try not to
waste food around around the kitchen and that kind of thing.
But actually there are so many things that we can
do just to be a bit more sustainable in the kitchen.
And when you do think about the scale of waste
when it comes to food, it's really appalling.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
Oh my goodness, yes it is. I think people when
any substainable food, they think of like DGI garden, you know,
and like someone with a lifestyle block and they can
have a house cow, and.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Like, do not have a house cow? Is that what
you're telling me?
Speaker 3 (00:52):
I mean, I feel like a house.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
Baby.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
But it's quite different, it is.
Speaker 3 (01:02):
Yeah, it's different. And subtainal food doesn't that you don't
actually need a lot of land or a lot of
time to do it. I mean things do take time.
There are some simple things like you know, I make
k butcher, you know, so instead of buying fizzy drink
or you know, a nice dress. Making open butcher it's
so much more cost effective as well, And I've actually
(01:24):
gotten down to fine art that it would only take me,
you know, a few minutes. I just basically just make
peace put my scoby in it.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
But there is one downside to that, and that's that
when any if anyone's ever visiting your house and they
open the fridge and there's like a jar with a
scoby in it, it looks like disturbing, like something else.
Because I've brewed my own butcher as well, and it
can be a shocking sight.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
It can be. I have been known to just in
the evening take all my scobies out. I like to
like wash them and count them. I know this is
this is weird, but going off topic, but I am
the local scoby dealer and can butcher maker. But everyone
loves them, you know. I think for the grossness of
having some scobies in your fridge, the kambucher tastes great.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
And so you can do that like not just with
kom butcher, but like making sauer krat or something like
that works pretty similarly.
Speaker 3 (02:14):
Right, Absolutely, I've made saur krat before. Personally, isn't a
food I eat a lot, so I didn't kind of
open making that regularly. But yeah, basically it's just you know,
salty water doesn't take up too much space in your
pantry too. Bread is a really big one I think
for me when I think about sustainable food, looking at
the foods that you eat regularly. Because if you're going
(02:36):
to all this trouble to reduce waste around one thing,
you know that you don't doum very much. It's actually
probably not worth your time passing over. But something like
bread is a really awesome one that you can make yourself.
I first started making it, I found a recipe online
and it was like a very waste I'm clerely at
(02:57):
gluten free, so it also had to be free of
gluten and it was disgusting. Yeah, Like I genuinely remember
blocking my nose and eating it because I was like,
I'm not gonna waste this bread. Yeah, not good. But
over the years I have found buy my bread mixers
from the Alternative Bread Coat. She's a lady in fun
(03:18):
to Day who makes a bread mix takets me six
minutes and thirty seconds to put it together.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
Wow, do you have a bread maker, no, no, and
an oven.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
You could get a bread maker. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (03:30):
Again it's just space. You know, lots of people live
an apartments and don't have space for all this stuff.
So yeah, yeah, that is delicious. It is way more
cost effective than the super market. Yes, we're just focusing
on those main food groups.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
Yeah, and I suppose you could do that with like yogurt.
I mean, there's actually quite a lot of stuff you
can do now. So I don't Truthfully, I don't make
my own bread. I don't make my own yogurt, but
I do I do my own soda water. Ooh, you know,
because and it's an easy one. It is an easy
one to do, but just because for a couple of reasons.
First of all, it obviously seems very wasteful to be
(04:05):
buying like bottle after bottle, even though you can recycle
the bottles, it still seems a bit wasteful. But also,
I just get through so much soda water that if
I was buying it all at the supermarket I'd be
buying like four or five bottles a week. And that,
I mean, that's just like that's gonna be very inconvenient
for taking back to the car.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
Oh totally. You can actually be really clever and you know,
not only cost affective, but space effective, you know, like
because again all these things take space from your pantry
and people go, oh, it's just too much it but
if you try, it's one thing. And you know, even
on the bread bread situation, if you can't make your
own bread, you can likely find a bakery close to
(04:45):
you and just bring a fabric bag or a pillow cake, yeah, right,
something to pop it in. Because there's lots of doa
kind of basics you can make. But if you're not
a goy person, you can likely outsource that and still
in a sustainable, low waste way.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
Yeah, and like buying bulk and you know, kind of
refilling your pantry staples, that's an obvious to do as well.
Speaker 3 (05:07):
Yes, yep, especially I know, you know, before I had
a baby, I had the more freedom of time to
go to a bult than shop like quite regularly, probably
once a week or a couple of times a month.
But when you talk about buy and bulk and actually
buy like heaps of rice, heaps of sugar, yeah, you
can just do that every nice three months. Again, it
(05:28):
depends on how much pantry space you have, but it's
not actually a huge You don't have to go out
of your way very much to just buy those staples, herbs, spices,
baking ingredients. Yeah, it can actually just be a much
more effective way to do your shopping.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
Yeah, can I add something to your list of ways
to be more sustainable in the kitchen. So I'm a
big believer and like just using what you've got sometimes, right,
So I just, for whatever reason, I just hate meal planning.
I think it's because it's at the end of the week.
For me, Like I get to the very end of
the week and We've got to go to the supermarket,
and I'm like, oh, I just can't bear to think
about the weak ahead. And so we always kind of
(06:04):
plan for like, you know, we we have like we
have my food bags, so that comes to the first
three or four days, and then after that, I'm always like,
it's just clean up what if we've got. And a
good way to do that if you actually want to
have a meal meal is to put what if you've
got in the pantry into AI. So you go to
check GPT or anything else and you go like, what
(06:26):
could I make out of this that would be nice.
Quite good.
Speaker 3 (06:30):
Yeah, I've totally done that before. Yeah, it definitely works.
Also if you don't have AI or you're not you
know on that band Megan.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
Yet.
Speaker 3 (06:40):
One thing I do with all of the vegetables in
my in the fridge especially that needs to be used up,
I seen them or freight them, depending on what they are.
I blend them and put them.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
On past Oh yeah, immediately.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
And you don't have to you don't really have to
think about it. Like, as long as there's checking a
few consultants and spices, it always makes a pasta sauce
and it's always different.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
That's a good idea. Yeah, okay, can I can I
add one last thing to it? Then? And this is
maybe I mean, not something for everyone necessarily, but for
those of us who do enjoy a little bit of
meat sometimes have a little bit of tcharzo in your
fridge because charita lasts ages obviously because it's all cured.
And then like a little bit of charita goes so
(07:27):
far so exactly so, if you were doing your steam
vigi's that are kind of pass their best, but you're
turning then and talk to pass this horse, maybe you
got a little bit of garlic, and then you've just
got honestly, like a third of a chiriza sausage is
more than enough for one person for dinner, Like it
just goes so far and it really makes a meal.
So there you go.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
I'm getting hungry.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
Ye. Look look at us teaming up. Eh No, I
love that cool. Hey, thank you so much. We're going
to make sure all of those tips and recommendations are
on the news Talk ZP website. You have a wonderful weekend,
and I am all I can do is assure you
that no one thinks of you as a house cow
right now.
Speaker 3 (08:04):
Thank you?
Speaker 2 (08:04):
Okay, yeah, keep up its great work, Kate. We'll see
you again soon, Kate. All of course, you can find
her all on all the social media platforms just by
searching ethically Kate.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
For more from Saturday Morning with Jack Tame, Listen live
to News Talks ed B from nine am Saturday, or
follow the podcast on iHeartRadio
You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack team podcast
from News Talks.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
There'd be time to catch up with that. Sustainability commentator
Kate Hall is here and she's talking sustainable food this morning.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
Good morning, Good morning Jack.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Do you know when I think of sustainable food, I
think of the obvious stuff like or try not to
waste food around around the kitchen and that kind of thing.
But actually there are so many things that we can
do just to be a bit more sustainable in the kitchen.
And when you do think about the scale of waste
when it comes to food, it's really appalling.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
Oh my goodness, yes it is. I think people when
any substainable food, they think of like DGI garden, you know,
and like someone with a lifestyle block and they can
have a house cow, and.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Like, do not have a house cow? Is that what
you're telling me?
Speaker 3 (00:52):
I mean, I feel like a house.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
Baby.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
But it's quite different, it is.
Speaker 3 (01:02):
Yeah, it's different. And subtainal food doesn't that you don't
actually need a lot of land or a lot of
time to do it. I mean things do take time.
There are some simple things like you know, I make
k butcher, you know, so instead of buying fizzy drink
or you know, a nice dress. Making open butcher it's
so much more cost effective as well, And I've actually
(01:24):
gotten down to fine art that it would only take me,
you know, a few minutes. I just basically just make
peace put my scoby in it.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
But there is one downside to that, and that's that
when any if anyone's ever visiting your house and they
open the fridge and there's like a jar with a
scoby in it, it looks like disturbing, like something else.
Because I've brewed my own butcher as well, and it
can be a shocking sight.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
It can be. I have been known to just in
the evening take all my scobies out. I like to
like wash them and count them. I know this is
this is weird, but going off topic, but I am
the local scoby dealer and can butcher maker. But everyone
loves them, you know. I think for the grossness of
having some scobies in your fridge, the kambucher tastes great.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
And so you can do that like not just with
kom butcher, but like making sauer krat or something like
that works pretty similarly.
Speaker 3 (02:14):
Right, Absolutely, I've made saur krat before. Personally, isn't a
food I eat a lot, so I didn't kind of
open making that regularly. But yeah, basically it's just you know,
salty water doesn't take up too much space in your
pantry too. Bread is a really big one I think
for me when I think about sustainable food, looking at
the foods that you eat regularly. Because if you're going
(02:36):
to all this trouble to reduce waste around one thing,
you know that you don't doum very much. It's actually
probably not worth your time passing over. But something like
bread is a really awesome one that you can make yourself.
I first started making it, I found a recipe online
and it was like a very waste I'm clerely at
(02:57):
gluten free, so it also had to be free of
gluten and it was disgusting. Yeah, Like I genuinely remember
blocking my nose and eating it because I was like,
I'm not gonna waste this bread. Yeah, not good. But
over the years I have found buy my bread mixers
from the Alternative Bread Coat. She's a lady in fun
(03:18):
to Day who makes a bread mix takets me six
minutes and thirty seconds to put it together.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
Wow, do you have a bread maker, no, no, and
an oven.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
You could get a bread maker. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (03:30):
Again it's just space. You know, lots of people live
an apartments and don't have space for all this stuff.
So yeah, yeah, that is delicious. It is way more
cost effective than the super market. Yes, we're just focusing
on those main food groups.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
Yeah, and I suppose you could do that with like yogurt.
I mean, there's actually quite a lot of stuff you
can do now. So I don't Truthfully, I don't make
my own bread. I don't make my own yogurt, but
I do I do my own soda water. Ooh, you know,
because and it's an easy one. It is an easy
one to do, but just because for a couple of reasons.
First of all, it obviously seems very wasteful to be
(04:05):
buying like bottle after bottle, even though you can recycle
the bottles, it still seems a bit wasteful. But also,
I just get through so much soda water that if
I was buying it all at the supermarket I'd be
buying like four or five bottles a week. And that,
I mean, that's just like that's gonna be very inconvenient
for taking back to the car.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
Oh totally. You can actually be really clever and you know,
not only cost affective, but space effective, you know, like
because again all these things take space from your pantry
and people go, oh, it's just too much it but
if you try, it's one thing. And you know, even
on the bread bread situation, if you can't make your
own bread, you can likely find a bakery close to
(04:45):
you and just bring a fabric bag or a pillow cake, yeah, right,
something to pop it in. Because there's lots of doa
kind of basics you can make. But if you're not
a goy person, you can likely outsource that and still
in a sustainable, low waste way.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
Yeah, and like buying bulk and you know, kind of
refilling your pantry staples, that's an obvious to do as well.
Speaker 3 (05:07):
Yes, yep, especially I know, you know, before I had
a baby, I had the more freedom of time to
go to a bult than shop like quite regularly, probably
once a week or a couple of times a month.
But when you talk about buy and bulk and actually
buy like heaps of rice, heaps of sugar, yeah, you
can just do that every nice three months. Again, it
(05:28):
depends on how much pantry space you have, but it's
not actually a huge You don't have to go out
of your way very much to just buy those staples, herbs, spices,
baking ingredients. Yeah, it can actually just be a much
more effective way to do your shopping.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
Yeah, can I add something to your list of ways
to be more sustainable in the kitchen. So I'm a
big believer and like just using what you've got sometimes, right,
So I just, for whatever reason, I just hate meal planning.
I think it's because it's at the end of the week.
For me, Like I get to the very end of
the week and We've got to go to the supermarket,
and I'm like, oh, I just can't bear to think
about the weak ahead. And so we always kind of
(06:04):
plan for like, you know, we we have like we
have my food bags, so that comes to the first
three or four days, and then after that, I'm always like,
it's just clean up what if we've got. And a
good way to do that if you actually want to
have a meal meal is to put what if you've
got in the pantry into AI. So you go to
check GPT or anything else and you go like, what
(06:26):
could I make out of this that would be nice.
Quite good.
Speaker 3 (06:30):
Yeah, I've totally done that before. Yeah, it definitely works.
Also if you don't have AI or you're not you
know on that band Megan.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
Yet.
Speaker 3 (06:40):
One thing I do with all of the vegetables in
my in the fridge especially that needs to be used up,
I seen them or freight them, depending on what they are.
I blend them and put them.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
On past Oh yeah, immediately.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
And you don't have to you don't really have to
think about it. Like, as long as there's checking a
few consultants and spices, it always makes a pasta sauce
and it's always different.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
That's a good idea. Yeah, okay, can I can I
add one last thing to it? Then? And this is
maybe I mean, not something for everyone necessarily, but for
those of us who do enjoy a little bit of
meat sometimes have a little bit of tcharzo in your
fridge because charita lasts ages obviously because it's all cured.
And then like a little bit of charita goes so
(07:27):
far so exactly so, if you were doing your steam
vigi's that are kind of pass their best, but you're
turning then and talk to pass this horse, maybe you
got a little bit of garlic, and then you've just
got honestly, like a third of a chiriza sausage is
more than enough for one person for dinner, Like it
just goes so far and it really makes a meal.
So there you go.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
I'm getting hungry.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
Ye. Look look at us teaming up. Eh No, I
love that cool. Hey, thank you so much. We're going
to make sure all of those tips and recommendations are
on the news Talk ZP website. You have a wonderful weekend,
and I am all I can do is assure you
that no one thinks of you as a house cow
right now.
Speaker 3 (08:04):
Thank you?
Speaker 2 (08:04):
Okay, yeah, keep up its great work, Kate. We'll see
you again soon, Kate. All of course, you can find
her all on all the social media platforms just by
searching ethically Kate.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
For more from Saturday Morning with Jack Tame, Listen live
to News Talks ed B from nine am Saturday, or
follow the podcast on iHeartRadio
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