Reclaiming Lunch

It’s European Mobility Week, and as a cyclist I am celebrating “In Town Without My Car” (#ITWMC), without any actual effort on my part. GO ME! I’m good for the environment, good for my health and demonstrating the importance of urban mobility.

Of course for people who do drive this represents more of a sacrifice to change your ways, but you might find the change of pace somewhat relaxing.

By taking a train or a bus you have time to read, listen to music (though for goodness sake don’t irritate your fellow passengers with inapropriate volume levels!) and tweet to your heart’s content.

Jack Dorsey, the founder of Twitter, gets the bus to work every day to “keep it real”, and gawd bless ‘im. People Watching on public transport is magnificent anecdote fodder.

If public transport is too expensive try walking or cycling along the river into town, it’s lovely and healthy. Sometimes there are even ducks. DUCKS I TELL YOU!

This campaign puts me in mind of another campaign, very dear to my heart. The RECLAIM LUNCH campaign.

BUPA tells us that over 6 million Britons skip their lunch break; affecting productivity and overall health and wellbeing. More worrying to me though, is what people are actually eating for lunch.

Be honest – how often do you hit the streets of Leeds and instead of exploring the lovely local places with fresh food, find yourself wandering to Boots, Tesco, Greggs, Subway or some similar chain to buy one of their quick and dirty “Meal Deals”?

An uninspiring pre-packed sandwich, a bag of crisps, a can of coke… oh come on. If you were at home and making lunch you wouldn’t subject yourself to this crap would you? And is it worth the best part of a fiver? (£8 if Pret seduced you) NO!

If you could, you’d make a lovely sandwich of your own with better quality bread and better quality fillings. Or you’d have a nice salad, perhaps some reheated leftovers from the night before.

I’m a big believer of brown bagging it. I like to plan my meals out each week, knowing that what I cook the night before will feature on my lunch menu in a new and innovative way. Leftover roast or boiled potatoes can be made into a potato salad, or pureed to give a soup texture – the same with leftover vegetables. If salad isn’t your thing – then make a frittata or a quiche and eat it cold the next day. How about a curry or pasta? Adding rice or pasta or cous-cous?

You’d be astounded how much food we waste that could be recycled easily the next day, whether heated or unheated and be far more delicious than a ‘Meal Deal’ ever could be.

So what is your lunchtime habit? Do you eat at your desk? Or go out for a bit of fresh air? Do you catch up with your colleagues? Or do you sign into Facebook and bitch about them to your friends?

And more importantly… what do you eat? To get recipe ideas, search for your leftover ingredient at Everything Goes With Toast or email liannemarieb@gmail.co.uk.