Love Food Hate Waste
Food waste costs the average household an enormous £680 every year - most of that could have been eaten if we were more careful with shopping and storing!
Your council supports the national Love Food Hate Waste campaign which aims to reduce the astonishing amount of food we waste. Some food waste is unavoidable – peelings, cores and bones, but in the UK, the equivalent of 1 in every 5 bags of food we buy ends up in the bin.
This is a huge waste of all the energy, water and packaging used in food production, transportation and storage. And throwing food away is bad for the environment. Food is organic waste, and organic waste releases methane if it is buried in landfill sites. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas which contributes to climate change.
News: Food waste reduced in 2011
New research, carried out by the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP), has shown a sharp fall in the amount of food we are throwing away from our homes every year, down 13% or just over 1 million tonnes. That is enough food waste to fill Wembley stadium to the brim!
Since the launch of Love Food Hate Waste in 2006/07 household food waste has dropped from 8.3 million tonnes to 7.2 million tonnes a year – almost all of which could have been eaten.
Due to a combination of different factors, from rising food prices to the work of Love food Hate Waste and its many partners, including retailers, Councils and community groups, the reduction is a huge achievement by the British public.
The reduction of 1.1 million tonnes has saved councils up to £80 million a year by sending less food to landfill. On top of that had the reduction not occurred, UK consumers would have been spending at least £2.5 billion a year more on food & drink bought, but then thrown away.
However, the research also shows that we have much left to do. With rising food prices food waste is still costing us £12bn a year, or £50 for the average family!
What can you do?
The most common reasons for wasting food are that we cook and prepare too much and that we don’t use food before it goes past its sell by date.
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Plan: Plan your meals and make a shopping list so you only buy what you need
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Freeze: Next time you cook, make double the quantity and freeze the extra portion for a healthy, convenient ‘ready meal’
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Measure: Ensure you don’t cook too much with this quick
guide or by checking the portion calculator at www.lovefoodhatewaste.com
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Store: Store food properly to extend its life. Your fridge should be between 1-5 degrees and you should keep an eye on use by dates!
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Create: Learn to use leftovers creatively. If your bananas are going black, why not blitz them into a smoothie, or freeze them and add to cake batter or muffin mix next time you’re baking?
To find out more about how to Love Food Hate Waste and to take up our Food Waste Challenge, click
here!