What can be done to reduce food waste?

ellie99

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

Not making an assumption just recalling how things were many years ago in the UK. We lived a very different life back then but those were the hours that shops were open and somehow everyone managed to be fed, clothed etc. The only takeaway we had was the fish and chip shop and that was a rare treat, it came in newspaper too.

Yes, I remember those days too.

I think there were a lot more stay at home housewives back then, and also towns with a full high street of food shops, instead of empty shops and charity shops, and the food in large edge of town shopping centres.

I'm sure not all shop workers want to work nights/weekends, but some do, it fits in with family commitments and child care. I have friends who prefer the night shift.

Lynplatinum

Evening all

I think we are all approaching this from the wrong end of the problem. Let's stand this thing on it's head!

Imagine you are the head of a big supermarket and your reason for existence (your job, your lifestyle, your kids education) is to make a profit for the shareholders. Now look at the problem of food waste. For the next advertising campaign it might look good to find some way of looking as if you care. Might get you a few more customers. Increase profits. Till the next marketing idea.

BUT if your supermarket was taxed , heavily, on the weight of packaging it used each year AND on the amount of food waste you produced (by weight) suddenly food waste and packaging DOES become your problem because it reduces your profit. So all food would be sold in individual portions which consumers could buy just enough of - because it would waste less. You would employ more staff on the service side so that meats etc could be given to the customer in the amounts they want without the customers causing pollution to the loose meat/fish/cheese/bread. (Health and Saftey first!) It would encourage them to seek out charities to whom they could give their surplus.

So Dear Government Researcher - tax the supermarkets - if you dare! (but they give to Party's Electoral funds???) :eek:

Re the Wonky veg argument - the supermarket should operate like futures markets - be forced to buy foods by the field, when planted. Then they would start to be far less fussy over the shape of the veg etc!!!
Nite All

zaxdog

missbiggles1 wrote: »

I often make my own stock from bones but you still have the bones left when you've made it!

Clean bones here go on a piece of newspaper to dry then onto the fire

thriftwizard

zaxdog wrote: »

Clean bones here go on a piece of newspaper to dry then onto the fire

Brilliant! I do the same with used-up corncobs. We're in an area where they're grown; I'm currently able to buy 4 for £1 at the market. I tend to bake them, still wrapped in their leaves, alongside anything else in the oven (maybe a roast, maybe baked potatos and/or a casserole) then keep & dry out the leaves to use as tinder. The empty cobs will be popped into the stockpot - lots of taste left in them! - then after that, dried out for the fire/stove. But if there are any nibs of corn left on them, out to the chickens before retrieving & drying out! Keeps them happily occupied for hours...

Mojisola

Lynplatinum wrote: »

BUT if your supermarket was taxed , heavily, on the weight of packaging it used each year AND on the amount of food waste you produced (by weight) suddenly food waste and packaging DOES become your problem because it reduces your profit.

So all food would be sold in individual portions which consumers could buy just enough of - because it would waste less.

Organic food is usually packaged (which goes against the grain) because it reduces the amount of fraud and theft.

If the ordinary and fair-trade and organic bananas are all on the shelf, loose in boxes, what's to stop people taking the organic ones and saying they are the cheapest ones?

If the shop runs out of fair-trade bananas, the shop can just fill up the empty box with the cheapest bananas and sell them at the higher price.

missbiggles1

zaxdog wrote: »

Clean bones here go on a piece of newspaper to dry then onto the fire

Any suitable bones here go into the dogs - most people don't have fires, particularly in the summer.

missbiggles1

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

The other point - ie re take-aways - isnt feasible either (ie not having various different types of take-aways - and not just chippies).

We are all now used to quite a variety of food.

Add the fact that certain parts of the country don't yet fry their chips in suitable medium for vegetarians to eat them (recent memory of having blithely ordered a portion of chips from a chippie and being thankful the assistant had the sense to realise I'm a Southerner and there was going to be A Complaint if she hadnt told me they were fried in lard before I bought them, rather than afterwards - as that's what they do in this part of the country). Thought hadn't occurred to me they would be done in anything other than oil....as that's what I'm used to.

All the best chip shops use lard, whichever part of the country you come from.

upoiupou

What would help you reduce food waste?
Being able to recycle the inedible parts (eg banana skins, eggshells).
Councils should be made to provide a food recycling service.
Mine doesn't. You can only put these things into a garden waste wheelie bin, which you have to pay extra for - but not everyone has a garden, and for those with a small garden it's cheaper to buy the paper garden waste sacks which aren't suitable for food waste (because of rats).

What do you do already that you think works well?
- Buy what I need every few days, rather than huge shops to last 1-2 weeks
- Cook with whatever I have
- Cook a fairly large quantity and eat for several days/freeze portions
- Freeze any food that won't be eaten soon
- Take a doggie bag of leftovers home when eating out

What is the economic, environmental and social impact of food waste in England?
Buying in bulk is cheaper, but that increases food waste. Not just from not eating it all on time, but also in terms of seeing food as having little value. There is a vicious cycle of:
undesirable food production methods (pesticides, gm, illegal labour etc) - cheap bulk food - food waste - demand for food to be cheap - undesirable food production methods

What measures could be most effective in reducing food waste by retailers, the hospitality sector, local government, and consumers? These can include redistribution, recycling and recovery, and improved packaging and labelling.
- Free workshops on basic cooking that can be varied to use any food (eg soups, stews, smoothies).
- Teach cooking skills in school, not just recipes. When I lived in Japan I found that most 20-something Europeans could barely open a jar of pasta sauce while Japanese seven year olds could chop vegetables. They learn at school even if they don't learn at home.
- Make government online information on how to cook economically sexier and less patronising. And make the recipes better! I've seen some terrible recipes that must taste awful. Keep it at the level of celebrity chef videos.
- Make people pay if they waste food. Councils to charge residents extra for landfill collection and no extra for garden/food waste collection. Supermarkets to pay fees on all the food they throw out.

How effective are existing voluntary initiatives in England and is there a need for legislation?
- Legislation is needed.

LameWolf

missbiggles1 wrote: »

All the best chip shops use lard, whichever part of the country you come from.

Now I remember why I never ever visit the chip shop!_pale_

missbiggles1

LameWolf wrote: »

Now I remember why I never ever visit the chip shop!_pale_

If you throw away the animal fat/lard you produce at home, that's one of the most wasteful things you can do.