Wasted food

[lsm1066]

I was pretty horrified to see this on the news this morning. Is it the "sell-by date" culture that's caused this? Or have we just lost all connection with our food? Personally I've always done menu plans and shopping lists, so the waste in our house is fairly minimal by comparison with some. But millions of apples, yoghurts, whole chickens etc are thrown away every day!

For the story, see http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7389351.stm

And for the report itself, take a look at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/p ... _05_08.pdf

[johnhcrf]

The problem here is waste, waste food, compostable, and waste packaging, non-ZWP. Waste food should be collected by councils, already happening in some area, or householdder should compost the waste at home (Green Cone, Bokashi Bin, pet). Non-compostable/recyclable packaging, supplied by superstores in vast amounts, should be phased out. The consumer is always blamed. The truth however is that superstores and councils pay lip service to environmental concerns.

[MKG]

Yes, it's horrifying. And yes, it's partly the "sell-by" date culture (the one on tinned goods has always amused me). It's also partly that we've been positively encouraged for decades now to consume rampantly because it's good for business. The number of times I've heard people saying that "I don't want that cheap rubbish" and reach for an item four times the price regardless of any other consideration is gobsmacking. The number of people I've heard making comments along the lines of "When did she last buy a new dress?" is equally gobsmacking. Food's just a part of it. People have been brainwashed into thinking that wasteful consumerism is actually what makes a world worth living in.

[Thomzo]

I too was absolutely shocked. I think part of the problem is that the average shopper doesn't have any self control. They just fill the trolley without really thinking "do I need this?". Then they can't be bothered to cook the food in the fridge, they get a takeaway instead and throw half of that away.

I wish I could think of a solution - but of course the supermarkets aren't going to help in any way.

Cheers
Zoe

[ina]

Nothing new here - I read years ago that at least 30% of all food produced in the UK gets binned...

It's partly - yes - the supermarkets: because we don't shop every day in the corner shop anymore, we "have to" buy enough for the week or fortnight - and that is more difficult to judge, so things go off at the end of the week. It's also all those incredibly tempting bogofs - buy two for the price of one, or three for the price of two. Who can resist? And then the excess gets binned - and why not, because you didn't really pay for it.

And, last but not least, it's because food is far too cheap.

[snapdragon]

on a Radio prog recently there were some people trying to encourage people to use leftovers - apparently, in general, people don't know how to or have been scared off by the 'bug' brigade and the use by dates

I agree that cheap food and bogofs are a major cause, however bogofs were very useful to my Mum as a pensioner she and her neighbour would buy bogofs and share the cost, but they also knew how to make a joint last most of a week

[Super.Niki]

i heard that report on telly tongght...

I agree bogofs are worrying things. sometimes you have to look at them and think 89p or 2 for £1... do I actually need 2? Will I eat 2? if the answer is no... well... save money and food! I don't think you're actually "saving" money by buying 2 or 3 or 4 of something if you're really only intending to buy 1...? It confuses me....

I go shopping with my best mate most of the time and she's a sciency person so knows about "bugs" and things. The difference between us is quite disturbing. She will throw away potatos becuase they're slightly green (apparently green potatos are poisonus? Maybe true... but 20y/o and still living!) also she'll put eggs into water, if they flaot she'll chuck em? My idea of "has this egg gone off?" is to crack it, if it's green or stinks THEN it gets chucked, if not, fair play! We also have opposing views where mould is concerned... on jam or cheese... it gets cut off, the rest if perfectly edibile within reason (that reason being if there's something hideously wrong say with the cheese being really gooey or something THEN it goes!) but she wont touch it if it's got a lil patch on it... I wonder!

It's different people's ideals and ways of life, yes, but this whole thing about "is it safe?" sometimes... it's a bit overrated! A little dirt or a little out of date is fine with me! As logn as it's not goign to kill me!

[Rachel Squires]

I was a microbiologist in a previos life and to be honest, when you get to know a bit more about how bugs and how they grow and the real reasons why some of the anti-bug food rules are in place, you realise that a lot of then are mis-applied anyway. I'm also a great believer of making your own judgement on whether food has gone off rather than reading the label and I'm very rarely ill. My best mate has to chuck loads out because her partner was once ill from fish fingers and is super fussy. I often receive a food parcel from her of things that she would chuck out - sometimes she gives me veg for the animals but they don't get anywhere near the farm as to me, they're perfectly fine.

I think that the biggest risk comes from processed foods and if more people cooked properly, less would get thrown away. It was the whole chickens that shocked me. What ever happened to the sanctity of life? For me it's a sin not to consume or use in another way, the life that you are partly responsible for taking. By buying meat, these people are responsible for the death of that animal so they should at least have the decency to respect that and put the meat to good use ( rant, rant, rant). I hate the thought of the animals we grow for food being needlessly wasted. I guess at least with British breed lamb and beef, the price people pay by the time it reaches the shops puts them off wasting it.

I really could rant about this all day.......

[wulf]

I think that the biggest risk comes from processed foods and if more people cooked properly, less would get thrown away.

Definitely - some of my best meals have been improvised with what needs using up. Those who can only cook by numbers (sometimes even just numbers like "microwave for 5 minutes") lack the ability to avoid waste and really need to learn a few simple, essential skills.

Wulf

[The Riff-Raff Element]

A friend of mine works in catering, and it makes him weep to see the quantity that gets scraped off plates and into landfill.

But as the law stands in the UK, practically nothing can be salvaged:

- put a basket of bread on the table and half is left? Logic says use it in the next basket to go out, and the law says bin it.

- Leftovers and trimmings? Logic says that they go to animal feed bins or composting. The law says not.

I could go on. He does. It is the one aspect of his trade he despises.

[ina]

I think that the biggest risk comes from processed foods and if more people cooked properly, less would get thrown away.

Definitely - some of my best meals have been improvised with what needs using up. Those who can only cook by numbers (sometimes even just numbers like "microwave for 5 minutes") lack the ability to avoid waste and really need to learn a few simple, essential skills.

Wulf

Fully agree! And yes, of course bogofs can be used to folks' advantage - but all to often they aren't...

[Moonwaves]

She will throw away potatos becuase they're slightly green (apparently green potatos are poisonus? Maybe true... but 20y/o and still living!)

True but, like you I've eaten the occasional green bit and still living (33 years later!). It's why you have to earth potatoes up when growing them, they go green if exposed to the light and can make you ill if you eat them. I think potatoes are part of the nightshade family (as are tomatoes) so poisonous-ness is present in certain circumstances (but maybe not enough to kill you :) )

also she'll put eggs into water, if they flaot she'll chuck em? My idea of "has this egg gone off?" is to crack it, if it's green or stinks THEN it gets chucked, if not, fair play!

- yep, the reason being that egg shells are somewhat permeable and if they float they've been hanging around long enough to let oxygen in. I ignore the best-by dates on the occasional eggs I don't buy direct from the farmer (from the farmer I know they're only a day old when I get them not so when they're from a shop) and use the floaty test instead. Could do the break it open and smell test but I ruined a perfectly good cake once by doing that (would never think to break eggs into a separate bowl first just in case) and rotten egg smell is enough to put you off your dinner.

[MKG]

Green bits of potatoes contain solanin - one of the nasty constituents of Deadly Nightshade, another member of the potato family. For the same reason, never eat the fruits of the potato plant, nor (perversely inverse) anything else BUT the fruits of the tomato (yet another member of ...). A bit of green potato isn't going to harm anyone - but it's easy to cut away the green bits. The rest of the potato is perfectly safe.

[Annpan]

I always wondered about the green potato thingy... I fire ahead most of the time, unless the potatoes are luminous green there is a fine line between OK looking and a bit of a green tinge (and most supermarket potatoes have that green tinge after a few days at home anyway)

I was always taught to finish the food that was put infront of me (I say taught... force fed more like) but I see it as generally rude to leave food on your plate. OH is always doing it, then it gets left lying around and goes in the compost (yes I compost cooked foods) gets on my nerves sooo much.

Apart from that the only food that gets tossed in our house are 'trial' recipes that neither of us can stomach - I have just had to throw a rhubarb crumble because I tried to measure the ingredients it was just wrong and inedible...never try an explanation of what comes naturally.

[Rachel Squires]

No cooked food at all gets left in our house. John is very good at eating everything on his plate and would then start on mine if I didnt use my fork as a weapon - mealtimes in our house are really not very civilised affairs. I once started to add up the calories that John eats in a day and I gave up when I got to 5000!

I was always taught to eat everything on my plate and my mate thinks that that's why I adore food so much and am always having to watch my weight whilst she has a super thin figure and throws tonnes of stuff away - I guess I was brought up to have a high level of respect for food, esp. as my Mom and Dad were allotment holders and small holders to some degree so food was something that required a lot of effort.

Anyway, the tiny amount that we don't eat goes to the dogs or cats and I wish I had chucks to feed the peelings to and still feel guilty that these aren't eaten by something. I find it really hard to comprehend how people waste so much but I guess that's why we're here and they're not!