According to the campaign group Love Food Hate Waste (LFHW), seven million tonnes of food are wasted in households across the United Kingdom every single year.
This figure is scarily high and requires urgent action.
LFHW is a movement promoting a greener lifestyle across Great Britain and Ireland, and it is spreading the message to other countries across the world.
It demonstrates easy changes we can make to waste less food, which will lower household spending and overall and benefit the environment.
1 in 5 bags of food we buy gets wasted 👎
Take 5 minutes this weekend to plan some meals for next week – this can help you use up all your food and stop it from being wasted 🍛🍲🥧https://t.co/23bskqXUmf 🍽️💚#SpoiledRotten #LoveFoodHateWaste pic.twitter.com/gNnNCQf03G
— Love Food Hate Waste (@LFHW_UK) September 28, 2019
Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP), initiated the campaign 12 years ago at its headquarters in Banbury, Oxfordshire.
Jennifer Carr, WRAP’s Citizen Campaigns Project Manager, said: “We enjoy an abundance of food everywhere we go, from farmers’ markets and supermarkets, to restaurants and cafés.
“It’s never been easier to enjoy food. The problem is, that means it’s also never been easier to waste it.
“UK households produce 70% of the country’s overall food waste – 7.1 million tonnes – which is equal to 3.5 meals per person every week!”
Together, we can be committed to reducing food waste, and take inspiration from WRAP and Love Food Hate Waste.”
The average annual cost of food waste per person living in the UK is £230, which highlights the urgency of the issue.
Rotary clubs can take the matter to the community they operate in by promoting a lighter food shop, less ‘overbuying’ of items, such as milk, and ask shoppers to check fridges and freezers before going on a food shop.
According to LFHW, 30% of citizens in the UK do not check their fridge before a food shop, and nearly half forget to check the freezer.
This results in duplications of products – with the dated item getting binned first.
Shocking statistics are spearheading the Love Food Hate Waste campaign
Together, we can be committed to reducing food waste, and take inspiration from WRAP and Love Food Hate Waste.
Superstores such as Tesco are paving the way for other major supermarket chains by promoting the campaign by offering a recyclable bag as an alternative carrier for loose fruit and vegetables.
In a recent statement, Tesco pledged that it is planning to make packaging fully recyclable by 2025 and cut out as much plastic as possible in the preparation process.
Tesco’s Director of Quality, Sarah Bradbury, said: “We want to remove as much plastic as we can from our products, only using what is necessary to protect and preserve our food.
“We hope this trial proves popular with customers. We’ll be keeping a close eye on the results, including any impact on food waste.”
Find out more about the Love Food Hate Waste campaign by visiting their website.
