Mucho Guide to Waste
Waste not, want not — that’s what we’ve all been taught since the dawn of time. Don’t leave food on your plate, don’t throw scraps in the bin, don’t let the milk go off, but how deep does that really run? Spoiler alert: pretty damn deep. From the farm, to the market, to the corner store, to the supermarket to the plate, a huge portion of food globally goes to waste. Not only is this a waste of food, but it’s a waste of the world.
The Lowdown
Let’s get to the hard facts, because that’s the best way for things to sink in. Heck, it didn’t sink in for me until I was researching for this story. How much food is actually being wasted globally, and how much of that is the UK contributing?
4 billion tonnes of food is produced globally every year, and 30–50% of this food ends up as waste. That results in about 1.2–2 billion tonnes of perfectly good food being thrown out every single year.
Of that global number, a huge 7.3 million tonnes tonnes is wasted in the U.K on house hold food waste alone. When you realise that this figure doesn’t account for food that is wasted due to agricultural production, post harvest handling, spillage, inadequate shelf life, transit damage, product spoilage, overproduction, and all leftovers from restaurants and cafés, it hits home pretty hard. If you do want to talk about food waste across the board in the U.K (taking into account the above factors), then the UK contributes 18 million tonnes of food waste into landfill. That hits home pretty hard.
Okay — but aside from the obvious reasons that wasting food is not ideal (i.e. there are so many people who are starving, and here we are throwing food away), how else does food waste impact our world?
Firstly, it’s a mental waste of land. An estimated 1.4 billion hectares of land is currently being used to produce food that eventually ends up in the trash. 1.4 billion hectares. Let that sink in. Let’s put it into perspective — that’s a whopping 30% of the worlds agricultural land, and comparable to the land surface of some of the worlds largest countries (… like Russia).
It’s a serious waste of water. 250km³ blue water (that’s fresh surface water) is used every year on wasted food production. This statistic teamed with the fact that there are 700m people around the world that suffer from water scarcity really puts it into perspective.
It’s a crazy waste of energy. Okay — so hypothetically, if food wastage were a country using up energy, it would rank just behind the United States, and China. Like I said, crazy.
Finally, it’s a waste of money. The U.K. alone wastes £23 billion on food wastage. So what are some of the most wasted food products in U.K households? Some of them may surprise you, and some of them certainly wont.
The Catch
The thing is, not all food wastage is happening in the household. A bulk amount of food loss & waste occurs throughout the supply chain. In developed countries such as the UK, the main reasons behind production-stage food wastage include:
- Agricultural production reasons, from not meeting quality specifications, to damage from pests & disease
- Post harvest reasons, from handling and storage not meeting quality specifications, to spillage and degradation
- Processing and packaging reasons, from food prep waste to inadequate shelf life remaining
- Wholesale & retail distribution reasons, from damage in transit, to product spoilage and inadequate remaining shelf life due to low sales
- Food services reasons, from food prep waste, poor inventory management, and plate leftovers.*
So what does this mean for people around the world? Well, the UN’s Food & Argriculture Organization states that: If 1/4 of global food wastage could be saved, that would be enough to feed 870 million hungry people in the world. Especially for developing countries, change in needed. For consumers, this means a change in industry practices. Action to tackle food wastage today can ensure food security for tomorrow.
However, as hopeless as you may feel, about 10 billion tonnes of food waste is happening post-farm gate in the UK. 70% of this is happening in the household, so you can make a difference by taking a few small steps in your household.
Another huge contributing factor to food waste comes from a consumer’s desire to have ‘perfect’ or ‘industrial’ products. This sways people from buying fresh produce that looks slightly wonky — a bruised banana, an apple with a growth, or a misshaped cauliflower floret. However, there are a new gen of gamechanging companies that are rearing their heads who are trying to sell ‘real’ fruit & veg — the fruit and veg that you usually won’t see on supermarket shelves.
Where can you buy this fruit and veg? We’ve compiled a small “Lit List’”, compiled of the companies that we think are doing pretty lit things for food waste.
Their business model revolves around being sustainable, and turning the imperfect into something so damn perfect, like a drool-worthy hummus, or a cheeseboard made entirely from surplus market produce.
Sophie, founder of Elysia Catering, believes that “[as] a consumer, the more we see products that are not industrial, the more we will appreciate their value and taste. Tesco & Waitrose with their “little less than perfect” vegetable campaign are doing an incredible job raising public awareness.”, and we couldn’t agree more. Preach!
The Cheat Sheet
So how can you help? Often when tackling huge global issues like food waste, it can feel like if you change your habits, it’s only a drop in the ocean, so what’s the point?
Let’s slap that mentality out of your brain right now. Is it gone? Okay — let’s move on. Just think that everyone in the world has that mentality, so start imagining that the change begins with you. For the developed world, the end of the supply change is significantly different. There are some super simple hacks to help you reduce your waste.
- Plan your meals! Use shopping lists, or better yet — meal planning apps such as Mucho to avoid impulse buys. It also helps to not shop on an empty stomach… Hey, we’ve all been there!
- Avoid bulk buying, especially with items that are able to go out of date. If you must bulk buy, then bulk buy non-perishables that you are confident you use in cooking often.
- Get your head around best before and use by dates. In the United Kingdom, ‘best before’ dates are generally just the manufacturers suggestion for when they’re at peak quality. By no means does it mean you’re unable to eat the food after the best before. For ‘use by’ dates, keep a close eye on them, and consume this food before it, or check if you can freeze it, and do that instead.
- Make composting your new hobby! It’s time to stop scraping your food scraps into the bin or down the incinerator… Compost them instead!
- Fix your fridge! Reorganise your fridge & cupboard so that older products are at the front of your fridge & mind, and newer items are further back. This way, you remember to use the old items before they expire.
- Start prolonging food life, whether that be through pickling, freezing, or making jams & relish. Old bananas are great for banana bread or cakes, most meat can be frozen, fruit that’s going off can be frozen for smoothies. The list goes on!
- Turn your vegetable scraps into veggie stocks! The same can be done with offcuts of meat.
- Get friendly with your storage. Go through all of your storage and see if it needs an upgrade. Airtight containers are your friends are well worth the investment as they’ll help keep cereals, crackers, and other dry goods from going stale.
- Eat leftovers! Freeze residual food from dinner, or pack it as leftovers for the next day!
- Write it all down… If you dedicate a week to writing down what food you are throwing out regularly, you can adjust your buying and storage habits accordingly.
*All reasons cited from Arbtech.com
++++++++++++
Check out our Instagram here for more tips on how to reduce food waste in your home!
