Food waste - what can be done?

The size of the problem

It is estimated that globally we waste about a third of all food produced. This food could feed about three billion people annually. If food waste was a country it would be the third largest emitter of greenhouse gases roughly on a par with India or the whole of the EU.

The value of the edible food wasted in the UK is estimated to be well over £20billion annually. This is equivalent to several hundred pounds per person each year.

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Where does food waste happen?

Food waste occurs throughout the food chain - farming, manufacturing, restaurants and hospitality, retail with the largest wastage being by households.

The percentage of wastage by the retail sector appears relatively low. However, the operational practices of the supermarkets cause wastage at either end of the food chain. 

For example there is pressure on farming to meet strict supermarket specifications (cosmetic standards), cope with market fluctuations and order cancellations leading to perfectly edible food left unharvested or discarded.

At the other end of the food chain surveys suggest that there is widespread confusion about the use of dates on products. “Sell by” dates are about controlling store inventory and are not a safety deadline for consumers. “Best before by” labelling is about quality and you can use common sense to determine whether the food is ok to consume. It is really only “Use by” that is a safety issue and the advice should always be adhered to.

What can be done?

In England (as opposed to Scotland and Wales) there are currently no mandatory targets for reducing food waste. This would involve every point of the supply chain having to report on – and reduce – food waste.

Some of the other actions suggested by campaigners are:

• A public education programme around food waste. 

• Ensuring that all edible surplus food can be offered via an enhanced food redistribution network

• Supporting measures to treat farmers more fairly – avoiding deals that lead to food waste. 

Although the primary focus should be to reduce waste in the first place we also need to reduce the amount of waste that we incinerate which causes pollution. From June this year all households will have weekly food waste collections which will take the food waste to an anaerobic digester to produce biogas and fertiliser which will significantly reduce the amount of waste that is currently incinerated.