BLOG POST 13 - Food Waste Prevention: Everyone's Problem

Waste Hierarchy Framework (DEFRA, 2011)

According to the House of Commons Report on Food Waste in England (2016/17), 10 million tonnes of food is wasted ‘post farm-gate’, 60% of which could be avoided. With one in ten children living with adults in a state of food insecurity, yet the UK having the second highest obesity level in Europe, it is clear that improved information on diet and waste should be at the forefront of governmental policy, in order to reduce the impact of the double-edged sword of malnutrition as well as insufficient food distribution and rising food waste levels. With global population continuing to rise, and proportionate urban populations increasing too, food waste transgresses across the UN’s sustainable development goals whilst reducing environmental degradation in an age where industrialisation of agriculture produces further pressure on creating efficient food systems that meet the needs of today’s population without being detrimental to our planet that will be home to future generations.

Currently, UK policy regarding food waste is tackled using a waste hierarchy system (see diagram) which stages prevention as the most preferred option in regard to waste. Despite WRAP’s efforts with the development of Courtald 2025 Commitment Agreement, which aims to reduce food waste by 20% by 2025 compared to 2007 levels. This voluntary scheme has little impactful participation despite implementation at all stages of the food system. In fact, targets have failed to be met, despite an initial reduction in waste of 21% between 2007 and 2012, there was an increase of 4% between 2012 and 2015 (11).

The lack of any kind of real enforcement renders this model of food waste hierarchy solution partly useless, because despite its sustainable aims, it is frequently distorted or just simply ignored. FareShare estimates that the UK has a potential for 110,000 tonnes of surplus food from the retail sector could be diverted from waste each year. However, distortion of this framework means that food fit for redistribution goes to anaerobic digestion instead. This surplus food from the retail sector could be diverted each year, which has the potential to provide 262 million meals to those in need. In France, 2016 legislation made it illegal for retailers over a certain size to destroy or send food fit for consumption to landfill, but no such law exists in the UK (21).

With a large proportion of food wasted being at household level however, it is clear that efforts from consumers to reduce their own food waste must come alongside systemic policy solution to prevent waste. With food waste collection at about 10% capture rate level, the Local Government Association’s paper on ‘Meeting EU recycling targets’, published in May 2015, stated that nearly half of councils in England offered a food waste collection together with garden waste. However there is still no legal requirement for a separate food waste collection, nor for most households is there informed, readily accessible information that highlights the benefits of separating and reducing food waste (24).

Despite this, the incentive for individuals is high, because it is estimated that two thirds of potential food waste reduction would need to come from a household level, and the average house loses £470 a year because of avoidable food waste (10). Perhaps an even more shocking statistic is that in 2015 alone, £13 billion worth of edible food was thrown away from households, which if prevented would, according to WRAP, have the environmental benefit of taking a quarter of cars off the road (23).

Because the potential of prevention at an individual level is so high, education of the consumer is key in order to implement change. Campaigns such as WRAP’s Love Food Hate Waste gives individual, practical advice to encourage people to make mindful food choices and ‘join the feel-good food revolution’. Their website offers leftover food recipes, advice about freezing food and portion planners, which is aligned with the source reduction aspect of the waste hierarchy system. Campaigns such as this need to be promoted further to supply consumers with the means to make positive choices and create sustainable habits. There is a pilot scheme announced by the government in October 2018 that will be implemented in 2019/20 on the topic of food waste reduction but there is no further information available on what this may entail.

In the mean time, each individual can make a difference by considering the impact of their food choices. It seems easy to blame the systemic failure of the government to implement successful legislation that can instil a national shift in waste prevention, but we have agency over our own decisions, particularly when source reduction of food waste saves money and reduces environmental degradation. I encourage everyone to take responsibility for their waste management, but here are a few easy interventions that every household can make, because food waste prevention is everyone’s problem.

• Buy less! Use meal planners to ensure that less food is wasted
• Buy seasonally! Fruit and vegetables grown in season require less inputs (for example irrigation, food miles) and will stay fresher for longer.
• Use green caddy bin provided by the council. Warwickshire council have a ‘feed your caddy’ campaign which offers monthly prizes to those who register and use their food waste bin.
• Compost! Warwickshire council also offer workshops throughout the county on how to compost at home. If you attend you receive a compost bin at a discounted price.
• Prepare batch meals and freeze what is leftover
• Check use-by dates before purchasing food, and take into consideration that ‘best-before’ labels on food packaging do not mean that the food is necessarily ‘off’ just because it is past this date.
• Familiarise yourself with WRAP’s ‘Love Food Hate Waste’ campaign (here)