Think carefully about what you buy and what you eat to help avoid waste, says Claire Saul
WORDS: CLAIRE SAUL IMAGES: GLUTTONOUS GARDENER, NATIONAL TRUST, ELLIE GOOD, CREATIVE COMMONS, WRAP
WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme) works hard to tackle the causes behind our climate crisis and to develop a sustainable future for our planet.
It does this by working with governments, businesses and individuals. The organisation is responsible for initiatives such as Recycle Now and Love Food Hate Waste.
Last November, WRAP published the findings of their most recent research on UK food waste, food-related greenhouse gas emissions and water use linked to food production.
The headline findings were that on average, a household of four spends around £1,000 a year on food that remains uneaten.
We dispose of a whopping 6.4 million tonnes of food and drink in our homes, 73% of which could have been consumed.
The main culprits are potatoes, cooked leftovers – both homemade and pre-prepared meals – and bread. We dispose of 300,000 tonnes of meat and fish annually, equating to a cost of £3.2 billion.
One of the two key contributing factors was the pandemic, when we consumed far more food at home than we did in the pre-Covid era. Secondly, food prices, compared to average incomes, were lower then.
While there are promising trends – including the reduction of household food waste by around 17% since WRAP first raised awareness of the issue in 2007 – we still need to do more in our homes, while governments and businesses continue to tackle issues such as waste reduction throughout the food supply chain.
“There must be significant action, at scale, to tackle this problem,” says Catherine David, director of Behaviour, Change and Business Programmes at WRAP.
“We waste 12% of the food that we buy, with an average household of four throwing away £1,000 of good food each year.
“This is also happening because our food system is making it hard for people to buy only what they need, and to use more of what they buy.
“We know how hard it is to make change happen, and we believe that key to success is a shared responsibility for action.”
There are some good examples of initiatives that work to reduce household food waste, including campaigns likes Food Waste Action Week.
Retailers can help by removing unnecessary Best Before dates from fresh,
