Stop supermarkets from wasting food on our behalf

cepheus

In the West, 10 percent of our greenhouse gas emissions come from producing food that is never eaten. In the UK, 752,290 tonnes of CO2 is used to produce our waste food, and 87,767 hectares of our land.
Personal profligacy is obviously a factor, and it clearly never hurts to keep an eye on how we all purchase, store and consume food. But it is a drop in the ocean compared to the waste generated by our major supermarkets.....stop the supermarkets from using energy that could be used more productively elsewhere. Sign here

http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/ukfoodwaste/#detail

http://www.liberalconspiracy.org/2009/12/22/stop-supermarkets-from-wasting-food-on-our-behalf/

Cardew

752,290 tonnes of CO2?

Actually I heard it was 752,289 tonnes!

We all are aware that the science on these matters is so accurate these days that I am surprised they don't express the figure to 3 decimal places. Or better still if you really want to impress give a [STRIKE]guess[/STRIKE] accurate figure in Kg.

moonrakerz

Cardew wrote: »

752,290 tonnes of CO2?

Actually I heard it was 752,289 tonnes!

Sorry ! you're both wrong - according to a "planet saving" website that I have just come across we waste 8.3 million tonnes of food a year in the UK alone.
http://www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/about_food_waste

Each tonne of food "costs 4.5kg" of CO2.

8.3 million times 4.5 = 37.35million kg - equals 37,350 tonnes

BUT the same site says:
"We can calculate how many carbon dioxide equivalents are linked to food, and if we assume that half of the food thrown away could have been eaten (and we think that most could have been) then this is equal to at least 15 million tones of carbon dioxide equivalents"
(Any offers on what a "CO2 equivalent" is )

37,350 ?
752,289 ??
752,290 ???
15 million ????

Just think of a number; double it; no, treble it: no, let's go for broke, multiply it by ten !!

Did you know that 87.7643% of all statistics are made up on the spot - honest !!

PS: I've just finished shovelling 6 inches of "global warming" off my drive !

cepheus

How does this issue compare to other, seemingly, more urgent issues such as cutting down packaging, CO2 emissions and air travel?

If we stopped wasting food that could have been eaten, we could have a huge impact on the environment, the equivalent of taking 1 in 4 cars off UK roads.

http://www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/about_food_waste

cepheus

moonrakerz wrote: »

Sorry ! you're both wrong - according to a "planet saving" website that I have just come across we waste 8.3 million tonnes of food a year in the UK alone.
http://www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/about_food_waste

Each tonne of food "costs 4.5kg" of CO2. 8.3 million times 4.5 = 37.35million kg - equals 37,350 tonnes

Where the hell does this 4.5kg figure come from?

OK I will use the site you have chosen which references their source (see Where do all of these facts come from?) this adds the other greenhouse gases as well as CO2 which are far more significant, hence the word equivalent. My apologies for misleading you!!!!!

Food waste is also harmful to the environment. Throwing away food that could have been eaten is responsible for the equivalent of 20 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions every year – that’s the same as the CO2 emitted by one in every four cars on UK roads.

http://www.wrap.org.uk/retail/case_studies_research/report_household.html

Any offers on what a "CO2 equivalent" is

Just try typing it into Google, and just use a bit of common sense with the source and recheck!

http://www.ieta.org/ieta/www/pages/index.php?IdSitePage=123

http://nicholas.duke.edu/thegreengrok/co2equivalents

moonrakerz

cepheus wrote: »

Where the hell does this 4.5kg figure come from?

It comes from the "wrap" site !

The same site that quotes food waste as producing 20% of the UK's CO2 - then on another page it says 2.4% - as I said, think of a number and double it, etc, etc !

cepheus

Where precisely on the site does it say 2.4%? is this CO2 or greenhouse gases?

are you reffering to the

2.4 million tonnes of garden waste per year which is being composted and used in various applications every year.

http://www.wrap.org.uk/composting/production/

please post the link

It seems to me you are making up figures and turning millions into %

415SanFran

Silly question time.

Arn't the freegans helping out with this at least a little?
I know the waste should not be there in the first place and that is really the issue, that should be addressed, but what can be done in the meantime?
I am only buying out of date f/v at the moment but I am under no illusions that it makes any difference.

cepheus

Ultimately we need to ensure businesses cannot lobby governments because encouraging excess buying leads to more profits and waste.

Perhaps there are some ideas here

a) perhaps force supermarkets to offer food free on the last sell by day?

b) relax our rules on H&S rules providing the consumer takes the risk (Is eating out of date food dangerous if is is overcooked?)

c) could the out of date food not be irradiated?

d) can any of this stuff be fed to pigs and dogs?

e) ensure at least it is recycled into making fertiliser and methane for energy.

The 'best before' challenge ... One man boldly goes beyond the use-by dates on his food

Dr Martin Caraher, an expert in food policy at City University in London, says: 'The supermarkets' main concern is the health of their customers but strict Use-By dates are also in their financial interests. If customers throw food away, they have to replace it by buying even more. Use-By dates can be a happy accident for them.'

As part of my investigation, I also want to highlight how much food is thrown out by supermarkets, as opposed to the customer. To this end, I meet Alf, an Oxford graduate in his 30s who is a 'Freegan' - that is, he lives off food that supermarkets throw out.

I join him on a food raid, or 'food liberation exercise'. We meet in a town in Kent just after the local Iceland and Sainsbury's have closed.

Minutes later, having rummaged through six bins, we've filled four carrier bags with cooked gammon steaks, ham, cheese, bread, cans of butter beans, pilchards, trifles (joy of joys), apples, tomatoes, a toad-in-the-hole ready meal, sausages, grapes (from Chile), carrot cake, sugar, yogurt, Scotch pancakes, pasta, chocolate and fresh mushrooms.

All of it is still in its packaging, much of it isn't even out of date: some has been thrown out because the packaging is slightly damaged.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1024879/The-best-challenge---One-man-boldly-goes-use-dates-food.html#ixzz0bB99!!!O


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1024879/The-best-challenge---One-man-boldly-goes-use-dates-food.html#ixzz0bB8jUQSM


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1024879/The-best-challenge---One-man-boldly-goes-use-dates-food.html#ixzz0bB8QubOs

moonrakerz

"We throw away food for two main reasons; of the avoidable food and drink waste, 2.2 million tonnes is thrown away due to cooking, preparing or serving too much and a further 2.9 million tonnes is thrown away because it was not used in time."
http://www.wrap.org.uk/retail/case_studies_research/report_household.html

"Every tonne of food waste prevented has the potential to save 4.2 tonnes of CO2 equivalent"

http://www.wrap.org.uk/wrap_corporate/about_wrap/food_waste_one_of.html

2.2 m tonnes plus 2.9 m tonnes times 4.2 equals 21.42 million tonnes - that's a lot better than your original (paltry !) 752,290 tonnes

THAT'S much more frightening !!!

Sheffield_Tiger

I was absolutely astounded and disgusted that my local Lidl, which I walked past on the night of Xmas Day, was brightly illuminated, not only with the exterior signage, but all the interior store lights were on!

Why? I can understand leaving the sign outside on 24/7/365 but why interior lighting?

I must admit that I "overbuy" and throw out waste perishable food, mainly from a desire to make something and then end up too busy and eating convenience food instead. I wish local fruit/veg shops would open 11-7 rather than 9-5, then I could buy what I need based on my timescale that evening, and avoid the supermarkets - but that is possibly a selfish outlook.