What can be done to reduce food waste?

[Deleted User]

JackieO wrote: »

Indeed to help the waste of food simply educate folk into buying less. No one 'needs' the amount of stuff they do, if they did we wouldn't have this problem

This is perfectly true so far as it goes, but you haven't followed through and asked why we are buying stuff we don't need.

We are a rich first world country in which most people have enough, but a consumer society is one in which peoples social standing rests on the ability to consume more than their peers. People compete for status by buying what they can't use. Having a fridge the size of a wardrobe when a smaller one will do or a 60" TV when a 32" one will do is just as much a status symbol as having a 4x4 when a Focus will do, or a Rolex when a Timex will do.

Most goods are sold into a saturated market in which those who want one already have one, so the only way for manufacturers to shift more product is to manipulate people into throwing away perfectly good stuff and buying new. To this end the marketing men come up with an endless supply of gimmicks and novelties.

Consumerism has created an economy which is like a giant conveyor belt digging natural resources out of one hole in the ground and burying them in another, and the imperative of economic growth means making the conveyor go 2% faster every year. Unless someone can come up with an alternative to consuming stuff as a means of competing for status though, projects like this one are just naïve because it's the consumer economy itself which is the cause of the waste.

[Deleted User]

We live in a village some 9 miles from the nearest city and some 5 miles from the nearest town. We have a Co Op and a One Stop here so I could if I wanted to pay the price shop here. I have a supermarket in the nearest centre which is 1.7 miles away and regularly walk up there and back to shop, carrying my own purchases (I use a backpack) we have a car but I am retired and lucky enough to have a bus pass so I also regularly bus into town for the wider range of shops available and the lower prices. We have no direct bus to any of the outlying retail parks and that takes out the option for me to use them, we don't use the car unless we have lots of things needing to be done in one locality. I'm 68 and can still carry what we need back to the bus stop and from the bus stop here back to our home. I have time, a luxury that many don't have and we have a better standard of living altogether because I do shop around but only in the places I can get to easily on the bus. Horses for courses I think.

usernameisvalid

missbiggles1 wrote: »

I missed that.:o

It sounds like the "I'm more frugal than you" squad struck again!:(

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/jamies-money-saving-meals/episode-guide/


I really enjoyed the series myself. Was good to see fresh ideas. And when you think about it, he did aim it just right. It does tend to be families who don't have to worry about food expenditure who are the most wasteful, as seen weekly on the Gregg Wallace programme and on the Hugh FW one

missbiggles1

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

We live in a village some 9 miles from the nearest city and some 5 miles from the nearest town. We have a Co Op and a One Stop here so I could if I wanted to pay the price shop here. I have a supermarket in the nearest centre which is 1.7 miles away and regularly walk up there and back to shop, carrying my own purchases (I use a backpack) we have a car but I am retired and lucky enough to have a bus pass so I also regularly bus into town for the wider range of shops available and the lower prices. We have no direct bus to any of the outlying retail parks and that takes out the option for me to use them, we don't use the car unless we have lots of things needing to be done in one locality. I'm 68 and can still carry what we need back to the bus stop and from the bus stop here back to our home. I have time, a luxury that many don't have and we have a better standard of living altogether because I do shop around but only in the places I can get to easily on the bus. Horses for courses I think.

I was about to post that this works well for households like yours - small and petless and with lots of time to spare. (Having free travel is a definite bonus as well.) Most people aren't in your position though.

missbiggles1

usernameisvalid wrote: »

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/jamies-money-saving-meals/episode-guide/


I really enjoyed the series myself. Was good to see fresh ideas. And when you think about it, he did aim it just right. It does tend to be families who don't have to worry about food expenditure who are the most wasteful, as seen weekly on the Gregg Wallace programme and on the Hugh FW one

Actually, I did see a couple of those - they were jolly good so I'll look at the ones I missed.:)

THIRZAH

I enjoyed the Jamie Oliver programme too and DD bought me the book for Christmas. Most of the time there's only DH and me at home now so I found the recipes in Jamie's book quite useful for using up leftovers if we do treat ourselves to a joint of meat. A lot of the recipes can be scaled down for two people.

[Deleted User]

I've always shopped this way, when we were a family of 4 with both the girls at home and had family pets too. As I said horses for courses and it wouldn't suit everyone and the bus pass definitely helps stretch the pension but when I had to I paid the bus fare and carried what we needed back home. Hubs had the car for work every day and I don't drive so it was a necessity or pay village prices which are usually a minimum of 20p more per item than in the larger stores. I relied on the independent greengrocers and bakers to get products that would usually last until the next shop, the quality usually being slightly better than in the supermarkets.

moneyistooshorttomention

missbiggles1 wrote: »

Most people don't live anywhere near their high streets or are ever likely to.

I dislike wasting food but the solution doesn't lie in dreaming of turning the clock back to the days of rationing or small shops because that isn't going to happen..

and "housewives" aren't the only ones that would like to see the supermarkets "stranglehold" reduced. I would/male shoppers would/etc unless we are planning on also turning back the clock to the days of "housewives" being the only ones that do any food shopping.

Blue_Doggy

Food Wasters are not one discrete group, but several. Just those which have been mentioned include producers both primary (farmers) and secondary (processors); distributors (may include supermarkets); retailers (definitely includes supermarkets , as well as "eateries" of all descriptions); domestic purchasers; and end consumers.

All are affected by different factors driving their waste or frugality, and each needs a separate approach (IMVHO). We here are mostly in the last two categories, and even there we know that there are several populations - those who learned to shop, store, and cook thriftily; those who might know it but are too busy/poor to apply the knowledge; and the clueless heapers-high of supermarket trollies.

Again, different approaches are needed. The tech-savvy could perhaps benefit from a Smartphone App Food-Advisor, which would tell them how safe food is to eat despite its date, and how to make a stir-fry out of a shred of beef and a carrot. As has been suggested, the various Soap Operas could be used to carry an anti Food Waste message and demonstrate how food can be saved, from wrapping celery in tin foil to making a meal of left-overs.

Someone has already said that ready meals and processed foods use the "wonky" fruit and veg, and often the less-favoured cuts of meat or types of fish. The recipes used for those need to be healthy, but ready meals generate probably no more waste than made-from-scratch, and being more-or-less portion-controlled can contribute to the fight against obesity.

Someone else scorned pet-foods, yet those pet-foods use up what would otherwise be wasted in the food production chain, by taking the bits of animals, and vegetables and fruits too, we wouldn't eat and making it easy for humans to feed to pets without knowing what bits and offals it contains.

Once again, apologies for such a long post but with a slow connection and a large helping of RL I can't post often.

missbiggles1

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

and "housewives" aren't the only ones that would like to see the supermarkets "stranglehold" reduced. I would/male shoppers would/etc unless we are planning on also turning back the clock to the days of "housewives" being the only ones that do any food shopping.

I never mentioned "housewives", I can't imagine why you'd think I would.