Food waste shame

2nd May 2013 Posted by AnthonyD

I’ve always felt a sense of satisfaction when I separate out my food waste at home, but a recent TV news report made me question if I’m doing the right thing.

The report came from an anaerobic digestion facility and talked about the problems of food waste in the UK. All absolutely true, of course, and campaigns by WRAP and local authorities have been providing useful tips to householders on how they can cut food waste (my top tip, by the way, is to keep bread in the freezer and only bring out the number of slices you need to use).

The reason my self-satisfaction crumbled was because the journalist described the scourge of food waste in the UK and went on to berate all us householders, pointing to the pile of material at the anaerobic digestion facility that was waiting to be turned into energy. In my household, we usually produce around two caddies full of food waste each week. By food waste, however, I’m not talking about mouldy bread or uneaten ready meals, the vast majority is vegetable peelings and tea bags.

I completely agree that people need to cut down the amount of food waste they produce, but surely not all food waste can be avoided? Unless anyone has any better ideas about what you can do with your leftover carrot skins?

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• anaerobic digestion
• behavioural change
• food and drink
• food waste
• recycling activities
• UK
• waste industry
• waste management

• Environmental issues