Victoria's Green Matters - 31st October 2013

Deal With IT's Secretary Victoria Nicholls writes a regular column in the East Kent Mercury:It was shocking to read the report this week about how much food was wasted by Tesco. During the first six months of this year almost 30,000 tonnes of food was wasted – unbelievable, isn’t it? On one hand, we have many people reliant on food banks to feed them, whilst on the other hand, we are throwing away all this food.

The supermarkets know that they are to blame for the wasteful culture that has grown up around the way they sell food – about two thirds of pre-washed and bagged salads are thrown away. The most obvious system of ‘buy one, get one free’ can be the reason why people take twice as much of one item than they need and often throw the extra away. People who live alone, of course, do not need to buy large amounts of perishable goods but are not offered a half price deal for the one item they want.

The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP)has ascertained that 15 million tonnes of food are discarded each year in the UK and households are responsible for about half that amount. The most shameful fact is that almost 4 million tonnes of food are thrown away despite being perfectly edible.

The only way to avoid food waste in the home is to plan your meals in advance and do not be tempted to buy more than you need. If you have leftovers, make another dish to use them up.

Victoria Nicholls.
DEAL WITH IT - Transition Deal.