Food waste is an ongoing problem but it isn’t just food companies to blame. Consumers are also culprits of wasting food. Households across the country throw out tonnes of unused food on a daily basis. Britons still waste around one-fifth of all food purchased and almost half the total wasted food in the UK still comes from the home. We have read different reports recently, both related to food waste, and they were equally shocking.
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| Photo taken from www.ecofoodrecycling.co.uk |
The food waste disposal maker, InSinkErator, has estimated that this means 66 per cent of the nation will use between two and four extra bin bags to get rid of their waste. With plastic bag usage forever on the increase, this figure is not a good addition.
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| Courtesy of m_bartosch / freedigitalphotos.net |
As well as this report, the Guardian website stated that although food waste from households has fallen by 13 per cent in the past three years due to the economic downturn, it is still costing us Brits the same amount of money because of inflation. This has come from government data that was published in November 2011. The data shows that the amount of edible household food waste is worth around £12 billion, or around £680 a year for the average family with children.
According to this research, which was carried out by the Waste & Resources Action Programme (Wrap), around 7.2 million tonnes of food is thrown away annually. This food could have been eaten – just think of all those people around the world who need this food. Think of the homeless people or the starving. They need food and we are throwing it all in the bin.
According to this research, which was carried out by the Waste & Resources Action Programme (Wrap), around 7.2 million tonnes of food is thrown away annually. This food could have been eaten – just think of all those people around the world who need this food. Think of the homeless people or the starving. They need food and we are throwing it all in the bin.
Now you have read these shocking statistics, we plead with you to watch your food waste this Christmas. Also, make a New Year’s resolution to reduce the amount of food you buy and then throw away. If you have lots of leftovers this Christmas do what we suggested before…make pizzas from it :-) If that doesn’t take your fancy, how about a pie or a quiche, a curry or a burrito. The options are endless. Just put the food anywhere than in the bin. If you don’t want it, perhaps give it to somebody who does. A great charity that can help with this is FoodCycle. FoodCycle is an organisation that utilises surplus food, kitchen space and volunteers to create nutritious meals for the 4 million people affected by food poverty in the UK. To find out more click here: http://www.foodcycle.org.uk/
Right, enough of the doom and gloom….HAVE A VERY MERRY (and non food wasting!) CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY.
Peace, love and unwasted pizza.
What On Earth
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In my city, Newport in South Wales, we are given free recyclable bags to put food waste in and a brown plastic bin to put the bags in for a weeekly pick up. They're then composted and eventually used on council flowerbeds.
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