Tag Archives: supermarket model

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”

The war on wonky: how cosmetic standards create mountains of food waste

In 2007, food campaigner Tristram Stuart visited M. H. Poskitt Carrots which supplied carrots to Asda. What he saw shocked him: carrots were continually discarded for not being the right size or shape, being broken, having a cleft or blemish, or not being the perfect colour. One of the most outrageous reasons for rejecting themContinue reading “The war on wonky: how cosmetic standards create mountains of food waste”

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”

Make businesses report their food waste

This consultation is now closed. Thank you to everyone who filled it in! Currently, businesses do not have to report how much food they waste. They can waste as much food as they want without being held accountable. But that might soon change! The government is consulting on new policy that will make food wasteContinue reading “Make businesses report their food waste”

National Food Strategy: tackling food waste is low-hanging fruit

Four years ago, Henry Dimbleby, the co-founder of Leon, was asked by the government to carry out a review of the food system, particularly looking at the accessibility of healthy food and the impact of the food system on the environment. Two weeks ago, the government finally responded to the review in a policy paper.Continue reading “National Food Strategy: tackling food waste is low-hanging fruit”

Why might 120,000 pigs have to be wasted in the UK?

“This will haunt people for the rest of their lives.” Kate Moore, pig farmer in East Yorkshire Farmers in the UK are facing the prospect of slaughtering 120,000 healthy pigs because there are not enough workers in abattoirs (slaughterhouses) due to a Brexit-induced labour shortage. Around 80% of skilled butchers in the UK are fromContinue reading “Why might 120,000 pigs have to be wasted in the UK?”

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”

Food waste in UK politics – July 2021

I often talk about needing bigger, ‘system’ changes to tackle food waste, and one example of this is changing food waste policy. In July 2021: I’m beyond delighted that this amendment has been tabled (see page 9 here). But why this amendment? There are five problems that this amendment addresses: 1) Although only 3% ofContinue reading “Food waste in UK politics – July 2021”