food waste

Billions of dollars of unused food are thrown away every year. For example, over 6000 chickens never reach the oven. Half a million ready made / microwave meals and over a million yogurt pots go in the bin without being opened.

The above are the figures for the UK only! Add to that Europe, North America and the rest of the developed world and you have one almighty amount of unused food. Apart from the fact that this wasted food would feed many millions of needy people or animals in poor countries, we also have the significant environmental impact that this unnecessary waste creates.

Food when it rots creates "greenhouse gasses" such as CO2 and methane. But the problem doesn't end with the waste food itself, what about all the packaging. Also, the production and transport environmental costs. All these cause problems for our planet just so we can throw it in the bin! It's not good enough.

People blame everything from their overly busy lives to super market special offers. The reality is that people in general just do not care. It's about not being lazy and ignorant, it's about being mature adults looking after the most important asset we have, our planet. Food is cheap and we buy far too much without any thought for suppliers, the environment or poor people.

In days gone by, people would make soup out of the left overs in their kitchen. Today, we eat what we need that day and throw the remainder in the bin. Why take the time to make soup out of scraps when like kings/queens we can buy it all again for tomorrows banquet?

The question is, how long will it last and how will we cope when it ends? If you know the answer to that or any tips/ways to prevent food waste, please let everyone know by adding a reply to this page in the form below.

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