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WASTE NOT, WANT NOT, THEY SAY. AND HAVING WITNESSED THE FOODSAVER FRESH IN ACTION, MATT BIELBY IS MOUTHING ALONG
What was your New Year’s resolution, then? Mine was to enjoy life to the fullest. Pfft! Way too wishy-washy! That could mean anything. Okay, I’ve got another one: to spend more time with family and friends. Almost equally vague! A proper resolution is to lose weight, to save money, to eat more healthily, to be kind to the planet. And to all of those ends, may I introduce the FoodSaver Fresh? It’s a state-of-the-art vacuum sealing solution which, they say, “helps make short-term food storage easier and more convenient than ever.” Just the thing for shedding blubber, squirrelling away quids, snaffling sensibly and giving Mother Earth a big ol’ hug, too. Okay, I was being vague – but you’re being ridiculous. You’re never going to manage all that… Might. How? By not binning so much, of course! Food waste is a hot topic right now, and while agreement on the best ways to stop us all trashing quite so much edible grub isn’t easy come by, the more each of us can do as individuals, the better. As this thing keeps food fresh in the fridge for twice as long as conventional methods like zip-seal bags, cling film and Tupperware, it’ll save you money, save you time, and perhaps make our finite resources go a little further, too. Time for me to go pfft! now, I think. No, no; bear with. The great thing about FoodSaver Fresh is that it works with just about anything – fresh veggies and leftovers in the fridge; pasta, rice and cereals in the store cupboard; packed lunches when you’re out and about.
I’m just not sure I’d use it. I already have plenty of containers and plastic bags, thank you very much. A-ha! But do they store your food in a vacuum? This thing removes all the air from its speciallydesigned zipper bags and containers, thus preserving both flavour and nutritional goodness for longer. It’s a doddle to use, too – even with just one hand, they say. So no more wilted, mushy salads? Indeed not! And since FoodSaver Fresh doesn’t take up much surface space, you can house it right by the fridge, ready to vacuum-seal your grub the minute you get it home. See-through boxes mean you can keep your fridge super-orderly too, as you can see what you’ve got at a glance. Sounds like I’m living in space, with all this talk of vacuums… Airless voids will soon become your best friends! You’ll be vacuum-packing shampoo for efficient travel, vacuum-packing jewellery to keep it safe from tarnishing, vacuum-packing old comics to save them from yellowing, even vacuum-packing seasonally inappropriate clothing to keep it free of moths. I don’t have any old comics! Well, many do – and when you think that pristine issues of the first ever Spider-Man story sell for over $1 million (and Superman’s first appearance can reach three times as much!), perhaps you should have invested in a few? (And then vacuum-packed them, of course, to keep them safe.) I suppose I’ve got a few treasured old magazines tucked away in the loft somewhere… You know what, I’m not even going to go there.
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The FoodSaver Fresh costs £89.99 and is available at Lakeland in Bath and Cribbs Causeway, Bristol; for more, foodsaver.co.uk