What can be done to reduce food waste?

ArtDecoGirly

I live in an ex mining village, we had loads of shops where you could buy fresh fruit, fresh veg, fresh fish, fresh meat, fresh bread etc, as much or as little as was needed, not a pre-pack in sight... since the mines closed down and a big Asda was built in the nearby town, all these small shops closed down and have all been either boarded up or taken over by pizza and kebab shops.
When you live in a small semi-rural downtrodden place like this, and have no transport to travel miles to avoid the supermarket, there's really not a lot of choice for a lot of people. I go to a farmer's market to get nice stuff, but even that is only on once a month and is a 10 mile/40 minute/£5 bus ride away. Sadly the supermarket has the monopoly round here

ViolaLass

ArtDecoGirly wrote: »

I live in an ex mining village, we had loads of shops where you could buy fresh fruit, fresh veg, fresh fish, fresh meat, fresh bread etc, as much or as little as was needed, not a pre-pack in sight... since the mines closed down and a big Asda was built in the nearby town, all these small shops closed down and have all been either boarded up or taken over by pizza and kebab shops.
When you live in a small semi-rural downtrodden place like this, and have no transport to travel miles to avoid the supermarket, there's really not a lot of choice for a lot of people. I go to a farmer's market to get nice stuff, but even that is only on once a month and is a 10 mile/40 minute/£5 bus ride away. Sadly the supermarket has the monopoly round here

And has waste increased?

Callie22

ViolaLass wrote: »

Do you have anything to back up your view that this leads to waste rather than, say, overeating?

The amount of uneaten stuff that lots of people buy without thinking and then chuck away? People who have cupboards full of OOD stuff that they've bought on a whim whilst they're wandering round the supermarket? I don't have access to statistics but we all know people who do that. All supermarkets care about is get us to buy as much as possible. Common sense suggests that, particularly for fresh stuff, supermarket marketing encourages people to buy food that they don't use which then gets binned because it's either gone off or it's gone past whatever date is printed on the packet.

I'd certainly agree that supermarket policies (like promotions and BOGOFS) do lead to overeating to a certain extent, especially in terms of processed, longer-life treat stuff - crisps, sweets, biscuits etc - but I strongly believe that particularly for fresh stuff, the enticements to overbuy (both overt and covert) lead to waste. Most people would happily eat an OOD bag of crisps or bar of chocolate but they are much less likely to eat a banana or chicken breast that's no longer 'fresh'. So that's the stuff that goes in the bin - and that's the stuff that is, IMO, more 'wasteful' to throw away in terms of the energy/effort/airmiles involved in production.

Edited to add a couple of other thoughts:

1. Over eating (indeed any form of overconsumption) can be thought of as a form of waste. 'More than you need' is a waste ...

2. A lot of the posts on this thread back up what I'm saying, indirectly. People are complaining that they can't, for example, just buy small quantities of fruit and veg from supermarkets which leads to waste as they can't use all that they've bought. A number of supermarkets (like Lidl and Aldi, for example) do regular promotions of fruit and veg as loss-leaders to get people through the door. How many people take advantage of these offers but end up with more than they need? Irrespective of how low the price is, if you're chucking half a punnet of strawberries or half a bag of carrots away because you didn't use them in time, it's a waste. Better to be able to buy two carrots for 30p that you use in full (and that the farmer gets a fair price for ...) than half a kilo for 38p, if you're going to end up chucking 250g away because you didn't use them. But people see an 'offer' and get dragged in - and fill their trollies up with other stuff they don't need because once you're through the door, the supermarket has won the battle as *most* people then end up spending way more than they intended.

monnagran

Well, it's a bit like trying to put toothpaste back in the tube, isn't it?

After so many years of plenty, variety, microwaveable meals, lack of education, de da de da de diddly ya, if the Government is really serious about tackling food waste it will mean going back to the beginning. After all, those of us who were brought up in more straitened times did have the benefit of learning from our parents, (well some of us did), but this has weakened as generations pass. Most youngsters these days have parents who couldn't or didn't have parents they could learn from.

To change things now is going to take a sustained, many pronged attack.

When the Government was faced with trying to make sure that the population didn't starve during the war they used every communication avenue they had available to them. Radio broadcasts, advertisements, newspaper and magazine articles, government leaflets, (remember 'Food Facts?) demonstrators in shops and meetings, organised groups - Women's Institute and WVS - celebrities, ( Gert and Daisy's cookery book), even firms that could no longer produce their products under their brand names brought out booklets to help make the most of the rations.

Of course we can't replicate wartime conditions, thank goodness, but in these days of instant global communication surely it must be possible to re-educate those that need it. Jamie and Hugh would leap at the chance to get involved, I'm sure.

Obviously the schools must be on board because they are educating the next generation of parents but you only have to look at the wealth of expertise and wisdom on forums such as this to see how many other resources are there to be tapped into.

I was recently involved in running a project for the homeless and people struggling on benefits. The most rewarding part of my work was to teach some life skills in a totally informal way. All of them were thrilled to learn a few simple recipes using cheap ingredients. Budgeting was a new concept to the majority as was keeping a run down bedsit clean and tidy - my most enthusiastic room cleaner was a 40+ gentleman who couldn't wait to show me each week his latest tidying hack.

It's all possible given the will. It need not even be over expensive, there is an army of people like us who are only too willing to share our wisdom and experience.

Come on Government, if you are really serious about this you could do it.

x

ViolaLass

Callie22, no idea what "OOD stuff" is.

I wasn't picking on you in particularly, I'm just concerned that this thread has become a collection of anecdotal evidence. I stand by my view that we don't really know who is wasting what, when and why (and that there will be a collection of answers to that). Each of us knows of some people who waste, but that is not the same as a scientific survey.

To give you an example, when I see that half kilo bag of carrots for 38p, I buy it and mentally note that we will be eating a lot of carrot things that week. The next week I'll buy 'too much' of a different veg but none of it will get thrown away. The supermarket has changed my habits but not increased my waste.

This story is also anecdotal though.

Bigjenny

OOD, Out of Date

Callie22

ViolaLass wrote: »

Callie22, no idea what "OOD stuff" is.

I wasn't picking on you in particularly, I'm just concerned that this thread has become a collection of anecdotal evidence. I stand by my view that we don't really know who is wasting what, when and why (and that there will be a collection of answers to that). Each of us knows of some people who waste, but that is not the same as a scientific survey.

To give you an example, when I see that half kilo bag of carrots for 38p, I buy it and mentally note that we will be eating a lot of carrot things that week. The next week I'll buy 'too much' of a different veg but none of it will get thrown away. The supermarket has changed my habits but not increased my waste.

This story is also anecdotal though.

I'm not sure how it can be anything else. The vast majority of people posting on these boards won't be scientists/food economists/nutritionists etc. I'd hazard a guess that people posting on here are unlikely to have conducted extensive, peer-reviewed studies regarding food over-production, manufacturing methodology and consumer waste which will enable them to post accurate, reliable statistics. We can only speak from our own experience which I am assuming is what the people who initiated this thread wanted - a thread like this can provide a degree of qualitative evidence which by its nature will stem from personal experience, personal observation and 'anecdote'. If the Government wants quantitative, scientific, statistical evidence about food waste then starting a thread on the Old-Style board of MSE isn't really the best way to go about it ...

Islandmaid

Violalass - the OP asked for our views, suggestions and experiences, not scientific evidence - they have also provided links to the committee,s webpage, which I am sure will have more detailed information.

I for one have enjoyed the anecdotal evidence, and think there have been some very useful contributions, let's hope those who this information is destined for take notice of us as a group

lobbyludd

Islandmaid wrote: »

Violalass - the OP asked for our views, suggestions and experiences, not scientific evidence - they have also provided links to the committee,s webpage, which I am sure will have more detailed information.

I for one have enjoyed the anecdotal evidence, and think there have been some very useful contributions, let's hope those who this information is destined for take notice of us as a group

But much of this thread has become (as these things often do) a collection of opinions on what posters think "other people" are doing wrong. This not what the OP asked for - which was anecdotal evidence of what has helped people personally cut food waste.

so - things that have helped me personally cut the food waste we used to have are -

i) meal planning
ii) shopping for that meal plan on a monthly basis, delivered, with the odd top up for fresh veg and milk.
iii) reading other people's meal plans (like the thread on here) and seeing how they approached the week/month ahead, with the associated chat because that also gave me ideas for/reminded me of meals for fussy eaters or quick things etc.
iv) searchable databases of recipes where you can plug in the main ingredients you have and come up with recipes that you can make with those.
v) experience of my parents cooking/planning - although invaluable - the OP cannot provide parents with this knowledge for people so it's not a useful suggestion in this context.
vi) a fairly repetitive and monotonous diet - not ideal, and I'm sure for many people not necessary, but in truth this has helped us not waste food because I only cook things I am fairly certain I can persuade the children to eat.
vii) cooking more than one meal at a sitting - I prefer more variety than my children so I cook an "enhanced" version of whatever they are having which they are free to try (spicier/more added veg, a sauce etc).

again - I'm not expecting anyone else to agree with this or it work for them, and I fully expect that this will not chime with some people's moral views on parenting/shopping/cooking but it does work for us, and it has (as a byproduct) cut down on food waste.

I would love to see more on this thread of people's experience of what has worked for them.

ViolaLass

lobbyludd wrote: »

But much of this thread has become (as these things often do) a collection of opinions on what posters think "other people" are doing wrong.

Exactly, with the extension that whatever that person has observed is widespread. I might see my neighbour wasting food in a certain way but I would be wary of stating that that's what a lot of people are doing, because I simply don't know.