Are we throwing away our future?

The world of food waste can be a sticky subject but an important one, nonetheless.
I recently joined a waste food waste management event bringing together champions of food waste solutions under one roof. A statistic that surprised me was out of 325,000 tonnes of carbon waste produced yearly in the Brighton & Hove area, a whooping 128,000 tonnes are the result of food carbon waste, that’s a total of roughly 40% of all carbon-related waste. Diving in further reveals 70% of food waste is perfectly edible leaving 30% to offcuts.
At the meeting, we were asked to come up with some ideas for the reduction of food waste and rate them against the food waste hierarchy my suggestions are as follows.

• Personal Composter within the household (Recycle – nutrients recovery)
• Only take what you know you can finish and go back for seconds after (Prevention)
• More realistic food expiration dates (Prevention)
• Make food to order when possible (Prevention)

Are there any obvious methods I might have missed?

If so write them down and grade them against the image above, see if you can make a difference at home.
Prolonged food waste does add up in the grand scheme of things, especially with the cost of living going up in recent months. It is estimated each household throws away £535 every year. That’s £535 that could be going towards a holiday in the south of France or saving up for that car you’ve always wanted.
Behaviour changes are possible and it is not too much effort either, one study carrying out a food audit for local households found that once people become aware of what food waste they are throwing away they stop doing it. This made it very hard for the food auditors to quantify their results but shows that the effort to change your habit is just under the surface with slightly higher awareness for what you’re doing, that new car doesn’t seem so far away.
 
How can I get involved?

There is a dream where communities come together to create sustainable gardens from their food waste keeping the nutrients in the loop whilst reclaiming that lost sense of neighbourly cohesion. Although we may not be there yet. There are sites such as; 
lovefoodhatewaste.com/ that provide education and recipes for using up leftovers in the fridge making your weekly shop go further.
Smart Apps such as –
TooGoodToGo Lists your favourite restaurants, cafes, and bakeries remaining food that would otherwise be thrown away at the end of the day at a discounted rate.  
NoWaste  - A program that scans your receipts and barcodes logging which food you buy, eat and throw away. Saving you time, money, and mental energy.

The Bigger Picture

UK Farmers indicate we may only have 60-100 harvest cycles left with the rate of topsoil degradation experienced in the recent years, becoming conscious and in control of your food waste not only benefits you as an individual but also our society as a whole elevating the pressure on local farms and buying time for nature to heal naturally.  

For more information visit https://www.instagram.com/circulareconomyclublondon/
 
15/03/2022        Written by Alex Haboubi