Food waste, the shocking truth

Every single year, the UK throws away approximately 14 million tonnes of food waste. Compare this with the 7 million people who are struggling to afford enough food to eat, and this makes for very stark reading.

An unbelievable 13% of all edible food and drinks purchased by the public are wasted

UK households throw away approximately £13 billion of edible food each year; around £500 per household. This means that the UK produces an estimated 14 million tonnes of food waste each year: almost twice the amount of Sweden and Spain.

According to the World Resources Institute, reducing food waste by half would benefit the environment significantly by reducing the need for land, water, and other resources to grow food. The World Resources Institute state that cutting food waste in half would lower greenhouse gas emissions by 1.5 gigaton of carbon dioxide equivalent per year by 2050.

What are the reasons for food waste?

Nearly a quarter of people surveyed confessed they often forget what’s in their fridge, causing them to throw away out of date and spoiled foods. Over a third of people don’t plan their meals and impulse buy in shops, with only 26% writing a shopping list.

The difference between ‘best before’, ‘sell by’ and ‘use by’ leads to confusion amongst consumers, meaning people err on the side of caution and throw away food and drink that’s still perfectly edible.

Food loss occurs between the post-harvest/slaughter period and the retail level. Food waste results from the actions of retailers, food service providers and consumers.

What’s the environmental impact of food waste?

You may be shocked to learn that food waste (10%) has four times the amount of carbon emissions as flying (2.5%).

It’s estimated that 30% of all available land on Earth is used for food which is eventually wasted.

Animals bred as livestock need to be raised, fed and transported. Plants need to be planted, watered, harvested, and shipped to retailers. Every single piece of food from the beginning to the end of its life cycle, creates a carbon footprint.

If food loss and waste were a country, it would be the third-highest greenhouse-gas (GHG) emitting nation behind the US and China. Food waste that ends up in landfills releases methane (CH4), a GHG with a global warming potential approximately 28–36 times higher than carbon dioxide (CO2). The resources required to produce uneaten food have an estimated carbon footprint of 3.3bn tonnes of CO2.

How can I reduce food waste?

1. Make a plan

Plan your meals and make shopping lists. It’s also worth making a note of any foods that are thrown away as you may start to see patterns and will be able to adjust your shopping accordingly. Reducing personal food waste at home will mean buying less and saves you money.

2. Repurpose

Don’t throw away that sorry looking carrot or wilting kale, throw them in a soup, stock or broth. You can try stir frying a selection of vegetables as a side dish and some leafy greens can even be brought back to life with a quick dunk in cold water.

With just a small shift in your cooking and shopping behaviours you can easily make positive changes for yourself and the planet.

3. ‘Sell by’ dates are not deadlines

This one relies on your senses, but if it looks the right colour and smells ok then it’s probably ok.

Use by dates should take a little consideration as they’re often used on meat and fish, however best before dates are designed to tell you when the food is at its most fresh but they’re not hard and fast rules.

4. Make use of your freezer

Most things can be frozen and it’s a fantastic way to extend the life of your food. Use it to store leftovers, food close to its use by date, fruit can be frozen and used in smoothies, milk in ice cube trays for your coffee and wine for sauces. Try to label everything so you know what it is and the date it was frozen. Your freezer is an excellent way to combat food waste and get creative in the kitchen.

5. Compost

This is much more important than you may realise. Composting is a critical solution for reducing wasted food. It also cuts harmful methane emissions from landfills, and helps farmers and communities grow organic, nutrient-rich, healthy food.

Any food that is wasted should not just be put in the bin with your rubbish to go to landfill as this creates greenhouse gas emissions as the food breaks down. If composting levels worldwide increased, we could reduce GHG emissions by 2.1bn tonnes by 2050.

Composting at home, is great for your garden. Composting organic matter helps protect and bolster soil, one of our planet’s rapidly degrading resources (and critical carbon sinks).

Alternatively, you can compost through your local food waste recycling programme. Both options allow organic waste to be broken down aerobically and is a much greener option than sending food to landfill.

Here at Salters HQ we have a weekly food waste collection to our waste into bio-fuel.

6. Try food preservation

Pretty much everything from cabbage to eggs can be pickled, not only does it make tasty food, but the pickling process will help preserve the food for weeks to come.

Fruits like apples and raspberries can be made into sauces and compotes to mix with yoghurt. You can add leftover herbs to oil, creating delicious, flavoured oils for dressings and marinades.

Whilst it takes a little effort, there’s something rather satisfying about rescuing something destined for the bin and giving it a new lease of life.

7. Organise

With foods forgotten in the fridge being one of the main reasons for food waste, make sure to keep your fridge neat and try to work on a ‘first in, first out’ policy.

8. Ditch the weekly shop

Not only is it a large and arduous chore, the concept of a ‘big shop’ is one of the biggest culprits of food waste. Fruits and vegetables rarely manage to stay fresh for the whole week and meal plans can change at the last minute, meaning dinners go to waste.

The best solution is to shop little and often and only buy what you need (so try not to shop when you’re hungry!).

Planning meals and cooking from scratch as often as possible means you’ll be eating more simply and healthier.

Lost opportunities

The sheer volume of food lost or wasted per year is approximately enough to end world hunger four times over. Yet the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) suggests we will need to produce 60% more food to feed a world population of 9.3bn by 2050. The food and agriculture sector’s impact on climate are similarly serious. The contribution of food wastage emissions to global warming is almost equal to the impact of global road transport emissions. Moreover, the total cost of U$2.6trn represents a huge economic loss. This is higher than the GDP of countries like Italy, Canada, and Russia. It is also a significant increase from US$936bn in 2012.

A decrease in food waste and loss could have numerous co-benefits for food security, climate, and the economy. The UN has adopted objectives to reduce food waste and loss as part of its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). SDG 12, which focuses on ensuring sustainable consumption and production patterns, includes target 12.3 to “halve per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels and reduce food losses along production and supply chains” by 2030. Meeting this goal would cause a 38% reduction in the carbon footprint of food loss and waste, equivalent to the GHG emissions of Japan.

Developed economies need to step up

High-income countries have a particularly wasteful food supply and consumption patterns that need to be urgently addressed. The per-capita food wastage footprint on climate in low-income countries is less than half of that in high-income countries.

Recent research shows that policymakers in the world’s largest economies still have a lot of work to do on reducing food loss and waste. For example, while around three-quarters of G20 countries have national strategies to reduce food loss, only one-half of these address losses along each stage of the supply chain.