Tag Archives: studies

Why were these beautiful watercolours of imperfect fruit so important?

In 1886, researchers at the US Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s Division of Pomology agreed that there was a need to document the many varieties of fruit and nuts found within the nation’s borders. They hired 21 artists to produce detailed illustrations of these specimens, of which more than 7,000 are preserved today in the USDAContinue reading “Why were these beautiful watercolours of imperfect fruit so important?”

Food Waste Action Week should look beyond households

“Win. Don’t bin” – that is the theme of this year’s Food Waste Action Week, run by government-funded body WRAP and its daughter campaign Love Food, Hate Waste. It follows the usual trend of food waste campaigns putting most of the onus on households and individuals to reduce their waste. In comparison, my preferred alternativeContinue reading “Food Waste Action Week should look beyond households”

Hidden waste on farms in the UK: new report by WWF and Tesco

A new report by WWF called ‘Hidden Waste: The Scale and Impact of Food Waste in Primary Production’ shows the extent of food waste in primary production in the UK (which means where food is grown and harvested like on farms and in fisheries). It follows their report from June 2021 in which they assessContinue reading “Hidden waste on farms in the UK: new report by WWF and Tesco”

Food waste in hospitality: ‘The pub taught me that sustainability is joy’

Story by Natalie Pearson | @foodwastestoriesImage by Erin Chapman | @erins_illustrations ‘I’ve always loved nature and I’ve always loved food, but then when you watch something like Planet Earth… I’ve got angry and I’ve mourned about what the world’s doing… and then I’ve come the other side going… you’ve actually got to positively harness that energyContinue reading “Food waste in hospitality: ‘The pub taught me that sustainability is joy’”

WWF’s report on farm-level food waste

In July 2021, WWF published their report ‘Driven to Waste: The Global Impact of Food Loss and Waste on Farms‘. It added to the efforts of UNEP and the FAO to quantify how much food waste is made through supply chains, and help find solutions for Sustainable Development Goal 12.3. However, the definition of foodContinue reading “WWF’s report on farm-level food waste”

Best before, no more

Best before dates belong in the bin. “Best before” means that the food is at its prime before this date, but is still totally safe to eat afterwards. However, many people take this as a cue to throw it away. The “use by” dates are the ones that you need to take notice of. ButContinue reading “Best before, no more”

What gives food more value, and how does this reduce food waste?

“… what remains when the good, fruitful, valuable, nourishing and useful has been taken […] the tat, the lowly that has sunk to the depth of a value system”. Scanlan, 2005 As Scalan posits, and as I explore in the Longer read What is food waste?, waste is simply something that has lost value toContinue reading “What gives food more value, and how does this reduce food waste?”

How is food waste measured, and why does it matter?

Food waste is a global issue, accounting for 8% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. In comparison, aviation accounts for just over 2%. If food waste were a country, it would be the third biggest emitter after the US and China. According to the FAO, we waste one third of all food produced for humanContinue reading “How is food waste measured, and why does it matter?”