Britain Lays Waste to the Environment

“Waste not, want not” is the mantra beloved to mothers the world over, but staggering new research confirms mother knows best as it is discovered Britain throws away £20bn worth of food per year.

 

That accounts for 20m tons of food, 16m tons of which are wasted in homes, shops, restaurants, hotels and food manufacturing. Much of the rest is thought to be destroyed between the farm field and the shop shelf.

Consumers are the biggest culprits, lured by supermarket Buy One Get One Frees and 3for2 offers. Such items are often neglected, with fruit and vegetables in particular left to rot in the bottom of the fridge, or thrown out according to their expiry dates regardless of their actual condition.

Lord Haskins of Skidby, former government adviser on rural affairs and chairman of Northern Foods, said that tackling the mountain of food wasted in this country every year would help to preserve the environment and go some way towards feeding an expanding global population in the face of unprecedented food shortages.

If our nations wasteful behaviour continues, over two years we will have binned enough food to satisfy the import needs for the whole of Africa, and if such a figure isn’t powerful enough, then each household is wasting £420 per year on throwaway foods. Lord Haskins pleaded with citizens to help "avoid disaster by dramatically reducing the ... unacceptable levels of food waste, which are a shameful feature of most modern consumer societies".

As a responsible shopper you should try not to buy more than you expect to consume, and be imaginative with any leftovers. Older vegetables are often perfect for soups and curries, while aging fruit makes a great smoothie, and if you are faced with more food than you can manage in a restaurant then ask to take it home with you.

Supermarket giant Tesco may not have published their landfill waste figures since 2004, but you can rest assured that at apetito we believe actions speak louder than words. We recycle 438 tons of material each year – a 20% increase on last year, and by 2012 we aim to send zero packaging and food waste to landfill.

There is often much ill-informed emotion around the fresh versus frozen debate. However, it should be remembered that frozen food is often fresher and more nutritious than so-called fresh or chilled food. It is important to recognise that any fresh food thrown away by consumers means that the energy used to produce and transport it has been wasted. Furthermore food waste in landfills gives off methane which is twenty one times as potent a greenhouse gas as carbon dioxide.

 

Tony Lowe, the Chief Executive of FareShare, the national food charity, said: "Unfortunately, we live in a world where many people do not have access to food in general - good-quality food specifically - while at the same time millions of tons of perfectly fine food are being disposed of. In the UK alone, the extent of food poverty is staggering, as millions of people with low or no income find it harder to access affordable, nutritious food."

At apetito we’re passionate about giving back to the community, and we believe our partnership with Fareshare demonstrates our balanced approach to sustainability, and our stance on the war against waste.

 

Our partnership with Fareshare pleases both parties as it saves on disposal costs, avoids food waste and land filling, as well as helping the disadvantaged, giving them access to nutritious and tasty complete meals.

 

The food that apetito provides is subject to the same rigorous tests all our meals undergo, there is absolutely nothing wrong with the products – every meal delivered through this scheme has attained our usual very high standards.

 

It may be the weight given on the packaging may be slightly incorrect, therefore it cannot be supplied to our customers; however it would be against everything we stand for if these products were sent to landfill instead of benefiting the communities in which we operate in.

 

So there are cost-effective, responsible schemes in place for waste which retailers can join to limit their impact on the environment, while WRAP is running a campaign entitled “Love Food Hate Waste” with a horde of helpful tips at www.lovefoodhatewaste.com for consumers to do their bit and alleviate some well-deserved Western guilt.