N o m o re r u b b i s h e x c u s e s

VITA NO.

MORE. RUBBISH.

EXCUSES.

“Every year 1.9 million tonnes of food are thrown away in the UK alone with 250,000 tonnes still being edible.”

Food that is fi t for human Marcus Gover, chief executive of the Waste & consumption, but isn’t eaten, resources Action Programme (WRAP), said: “We are is called food waste. It’s been in a new decade and have just 10 years if we are to left to go off or is thrown away. honour our international commitment to halve food One cause of food waste is when waste. This really matters because it is untenable shops suddenly stop ordering that we carry on wasting food on such a monumental unpopular food products – or scale when we are seeing the visible eff ects of climate change supplier – leaving stocks change every day, and when nearly a billion people to go bad. It also happens in restaurants and homes go hungry every day”. This is clearly a pressing issue when we buy more food than can be sold or eaten. which goes hand in hand with climate change. Are Household waste in the UK reached 22 million you guilty of throwing away perfectly fi ne food? tonnes in 2017, equivalent to 394kg per person! If you are, there are things you can do that will

Potatoes, bread, milk, bananas and salad are the help others and the environment. Surplus food is most common foods that are thrown away, but still not food waste; you can give it to those in need fi ne to eat. Most of the time foods that are often (apps that can help include: Too Good To Go, OLIO thrown away aren’t stored properly, meaning they and Love Food Hate Waste). Plan and store to cut could last a lot longer. For example, freezing bread down on food waste, check use by dates and freeze and defrosting only what you need can save a tonne whenever you can. Love your leftovers and create (literally). Each day, 24 million slices of bread are new meals. Recycle your food waste and if possible, wasted. get composting!

Every year 1.9 million tonnes of food are thrown Whilst you can do your bit at home, the government away in the UK with 250,000 tonnes still being do realise this is a pressing issue and are stepping in. edible. Households in the UK waste around 20% of Plans have been outlined to introduce separate food all the food they buy. This costs the average family a waste collections to every household in England by whopping £800. Meanwhile, 1 in 8 people suff er from 2023 so that food waste can be eff ectively managed hunger. The average person doesn’t really realise and composted, rather than going to landfi ll. Eight the eff ect it has when they throw away food that is charities and not-for-profi t groups are receiving normally absolutely fi ne to eat or reuse elsewhere. grassroots grants from the Governments £500,000 The UN has calculated that if food waste was a Food Waste Reduction Fund. Together, the grants country it would have the third highest carbon “If food waste – administered by WRAP – will see an extra footprint after China and the US. According was a country it 2,500 tonnes of quality food redistributed to research collated in February 2019, 65% would have the to people in need. For more information of UK adults admit to buying too much food third highest carbon and ways to help check out WRAP’s online that ends up being thrown away. foot print” website.

Alarming facts about food waste

• Over one third of all food produced globally goes to waste.

• UK households waste around 20% of all the food they buy.

• There are nearly one billion malnourished people in the world, but the approximately 40 million tonnes of food wasted just by US households, retailers and food services each year would be enough to satisfy the hunger of every one of them.

• On average, a UK family loses £800 on wasted food a year. Collectively, this comes to £15 billion per year.

• 25% of the worlds fresh water supply is used to grow food that is never eaten.

Ways you can help tackle food waste

Love Food Hate Waste aims to reduce the amount of food waste from households by helping citizens to buy what they are likely to eat and store their food in the best way to make it last longer.

OLIO connects neighbours with each other and with local businesses so surplus food can be shared, not thrown away. Too Good To Go is a free app which allows you to purchase unsold food from top restaurants and cafés at the end of service, to prevent it from being thrown away.