[R-G] [BillTottenWeblog] What a waste

[Bill Totten]

Britain throws away ten billion GBP of food every year

Global food shortages, soaring prices and alarm over the environment.
But every day, Britain throws away 220,000 loaves of bread, 1.6 million
bananas, 550,000 chickens, 5.1 million potatoes, 660,000 eggs, 1.2
million sausages and 1.3 million yoghurts

by Martin Hickman, Consumer Affairs Correspondent

Independent.co.uk (May 08 2008)


A new study has exposed the staggering amount of food thrown away every
day by the British public, calculating that the annual total of wasted
products adds up to a record ten billion GBP.

Each day, according to the government-backed report, Britons throw away
4.4 million apples, 1.6 million bananas, 1.3 million yoghurt pots,
660,000 eggs, 550,000 chickens, 300,000 packs of crisps and 440,000
ready meals. And for the first time government researchers have
established that most of the food waste is made up of completely
untouched food products - whole chickens and chocolate gateaux that lie
uneaten in cupboards and fridges before being discarded.

The roll call of daily waste costs an average home more than 420 GBP a
year but for a family with children the annual cost rises to 610 GBP.

The Government's waste campaign Wrap (Waste & Resources Action
Programme) revealed the extent of Britain's throwaway food culture after
sifting through the dustbins of 2,138 people who signed up to an audit
of food detritus. Other items on the daily list included 1.2 million
sausages, 710,000 packs of chocolate or sweets, 260,000 packs of cheese,
50,000 milkshake bottles and 25,000 cooking sauces.

The study is published as millions of the world's poor face food
shortages caused by rising populations, droughts and increased demand
for land for biofuels, which have sparked riots and protests from Haiti
to Mauritania, and from Yemen to the Philippines. Last month India
halted the export of non-basmati rice to ensure its poor can eat, while
Vietnam, the second-biggest rice exporter, is considering a similar
measure after Cyclone Nargis ripped through Burma's rice-producing
Irrawaddy delta.

In Britain yesterday, it emerged that food prices had risen by 4.7 per
cent in the past month. The soaring cost of wheat has increased food
prices in the UK by up to eleven per cent in the past year, putting more
pressure on domestic budgets already struggling to cope with higher
mortgage costs and council tax and energy bills.

Wrap suggested households seeking to balance their finances could save
money by following basic tips to prevent food waste, such as planning
shopping trips better and keeping a closer check on use-by dates. It
also pointed out that many people do not know the difference between a
"best before date", which has no implications for food safety, and
use-by data, which must be followed.

The Environment minister, Joan Ruddock, said: "These findings are
staggering in their own right, but at a time when global food shortages
are in the headlines this kind of wastefulness becomes even more
shocking. This is costing consumers three times over. Not only do they
pay hard-earned money for food they don't eat, there is also the cost of
dealing with the waste this creates. And there are climate- change costs
to all of us of growing, processing, packaging, transporting and
refrigerating food that only ends up in the bin. Preventing waste in the
first place has to remain a top priority."

Eliminating the huge level of food waste would have significant
environmental consequences. Local authorities spend one billion GBP a
year disposing of food waste, which leads to the release of methane, a
potent climate-change gas. Wrap calculated that stopping the waste of
good food could reduce the annual emission of carbon dioxide by eighteen
million tonnes - the same effect as taking one in five cars off the roads.

Food experts said the study should serve as a wake-up call to British
consumers. As well as an individual "Victorian moral" effort, Tim Lang,
professor of food policy at City University, called for the Government
to take action to improve the efficiency of the food system to face up
to the challenges of climate change, rising oil costs and water
shortages. Describing modern supermarkets as "cathedrals of waste", he
said: "The British food economy is one of the most wasteful it would be
conceivable to design. We have to create a new set of criteria on what
we want the food economy to address; it's time for politicians to catch up."

Previously, Wrap's Love Food, Hate Waste campaign put the financial cost
of the 6.7 million tonnes of food discarded annually in the UK at eight
billion GBP. After interviewing 2,715 households - and then analysing
the contents of most of their bins - researchers found that people were
throwing away a greater proportion of edible, unused products. Rather
than half new food and half peelings and scrapings from plates, the
proportion of entirely unused products was sixty per cent by weight and
seventy per cent by value.

Overall, that meant the total level of waste was two billion GBP higher,
at ten billion GBP, with the untouched products discarded worth six
billion GBP. Of those, products worth one billion GBP were still "in
date", Wrap found.

Launching The Food We Waste report, Wrap's chief executive, Liz Goodwin,
described its findings - which mean that one in three shopping bags is
dumped straight in the bin - as "shocking".

She said: "People aren't really aware that we are wasting so much food;
do we think it's acceptable to throw so much away when people around the
world are starving? But also with the economic situation here purse
strings are getting tighter yet the average family with children is
wasting more than 600 GBP a year on food waste. It begs some questions
which we all need to ask ourselves. As individuals we are all wasting
food. By class or age, there isn't much difference in how much we waste".

_____

Andrew Small, 46, from London

I waste a lot of stuff which goes way over its sell-by date. If you
don't shop that often like me there is a danger of things like milk and
fruit and vegetables going off in the fridge.

Estimated waste per month: Thirty GBP


Andreia Augusto, 35, from Portugal

I mostly waste salads and vegetables from the fridge; and things like HP
sauce, plus beans and lentils tend to get chucked out. It can happen
almost without you noticing.

Estimated waste per month: Fifty GBP


Lisa Jennings, 26, from London

I throw away a lot because I live on my own and I like to cook each
night instead of eating ready-made meals. I struggle with vegetables
because I tend to buy them in big packets.

Estimated waste per month: Twenty GBP


Alaria Alongi, 40, Italian, lives in London

I recycle everything and do my own compost. When I make a surplus I tend
to eat leftovers. I look forward to a day when you use your own large
containers for buying rice and pasta.

Estimated waste per month: Zero GBP


Alan Young, 58, from London

I try to avoid throwing any food away, despite eating mainly at home. I
was brought up by parents who came from a war generation in which waste
was a sin.

Estimated waste per month: Five to Ten GBP

(c) independent.co.uk

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/news/what-a-waste-britain-throws-away-16310bn-of-food-every-year-822809.html


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