Food waste on 'staggering' scale

[alan refail]

What food do you throw away?

I think we are guilty of leaving the odd packet in the fridge or freezer for too long. But otherwise what we do have to dispose of we have mostly grown ourselves and it is either recycled via the hens and ducks or composted.

I wonder where the blame for the waste lies? Growing up through the '40s and '50s I cannot recall my family, or anyone else's, having enough food the throw away. Here are a few places where I think blame lies; what do you think?

--availability of "cheap" food over the past few decades
--the growth in the market for prepared foods
--supermarkets/manufacturers deciding portion sizes (usually too big)

I can think of a few more possible reasons, but the above should get some ideas, I hope.

[Chantal]

Buy one, get one half price. You only actually want one, but the offer is too good to refuse and you end up chucking the half price one away I've been guilty in the past but not any more.

Also, having a husband who decides at the last minute that we're going out for dinner doesn't help a lot

[Tigger]

I think another cause is 'use by' dates. So many people don't use their eyes and noses to tell if a product is past it's best or unsafe to eat - they just go by the date on the wrapping which is usually over cautious.

[alan refail]

Tigger

One of the other "culprits" I had in mind. We always refer to "Sell by date" as "Smell by date". But to do that you need a knowledge of what food is, where it comes from and how to store and use it - plus, of course, a good dash of common sense (also in short supply these days).

[Chantal]

I'm always eating out of date food and it's never harmed me. Tim is forever checking labels and calls me Lucrezia Borgia for trying to "poison" him with food that's gone over. It hasn't, it's just past it's date, so I'm continually removing packaging, "spilling" stuff on the use by date, accidentally tearing the packaging over the date, etc, etc.

He is paranoid because of his job as a Restaurant Manager. They have spot checks on all their cupboards and fridges by Environmental Health several times a year. Anything past it's use by date MUST be got rid of or they can be prosecuted.

[Di]

I don't throw out food, and feel grumpy when I harvest something and then can't use it before its gone soggy, mouldy etc.... but at least no air miles were involved, and it goes back into the compost.

I think some blame must also go to the lack of 'home economics' at school. Maybe if they had a subject in school on 'Basic lifeskills', it could cover planning food shopping for a week, as well as all those little things that still leave me baffled

[Granny]

I also think people shop once a week at a supermarket and overbuy because they're worried they won't have enough. And also might have good intentions to cook each evening but give up and get a take-away.

I agree with others on sell-by dates. People are paranoid these days, particularly younger ones who have only known food with sell-by dates. Everybody I know who is my age has a much more pragmatic view!
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Granny

[Primrose]

My OH does most of the shopping - he actually enjoys it, but he does buy stuff which gets shoved in the cupboard and forgotten about. I had a clear out a few weeks ago and could have wept at the the amount of stuff which had to be thrown away, not because it had reached its Best Before date, but because it was actually due to expire last century (!) which I admit doesn't say much for my housekeeping skills. But when a cupboard is so jam-packed with products that you can never find anything, it does lead to waste because it's easier to buy a new packet than empty the cupboard trying to find the existing one. End of term report is "Must Do Better". I made the mistake of chucking it all in the bin. I should have lined it all up on the kitchen worktop first, then perhaps the message would have been more potent.

[Weed]

I have to admit my Governor has a fixation on sell by dates and would throw a lot of stuff away... I manage to convince her that it is OK and do include the said items in my diet.... she still refuses to eat anything after the given sell by date..

I remind her that technically we have both reached our 'sell by dates' and its the 'use by date' that we should concern ourselves with

[lizzie]

I don't throw much stuff away in my house.....if it doesn't smell funny or have a green furry jacket...it gets used. I can't stand wasted food when there are so many people in the world starving. I think it's sinful.

People don't use their common sense at all.....they are too fond of letting other people tell them what is best for them...instead of thinking for themselves.

I buy a lot of stuff from the reduced section and, if it's not to be used right away and it can be frozen, then in the freezer it goes.

I think that education in school may be the answer but, i doubt that they would listen cos that would then mean that they had made an independant thought and some people couldn't handle that.

Just my thoughts.....

[John]

DW can't stand any food being wasted. It helps having a dozen or so chicken as they make good use of anything that it really 'passed it'. The pressure cooker is great for quickly turning all sorts of left overs into soup and her electric mincer does good service in turning the remains of joints into stuff for cottage/shepherd's pie or rissoles.

John

[goldilox]

My mother-in-law throws things away 2 or 3 days before the use by date When she comes here to visit she eats what she's given - whether it's beyong it's sell/use by date or not. What the eye don't see, the heart don't grieve over

[peter]

I own a dog.

[Tigger]

As do we, but she has to fight us for it!!!

[Johnboy]

When you consider that last week a market trader was fined for taking his own waste home and composting it is it any wonder that landfill sites are being over burdened.
The trader was fined for taking his own waste home to compost for use on his own land. What he was supposed to do was pay for his waste to be cleared by the council contractor and taken to the local landfill site.
He is a market trader and is thus not licenced to clear waste. In order to clear his own waste he would have to apply for a licence as as waste disposal contractor and pay more than he earns in fees.
Quite frankly if I lived in that area I would be up in arms at the waste of councils resources to pursue such a petty and vindictive policy.
Petty council officials are the bane of this area and it seems that whatever you want to do there is some overpaid under inspired council official to say that you cannot do this or that. When you say well what should I be doing their reply is always the same. I am not at liberty to advise you on what you should be doing and you should submit what you want to do in writing and it will be considered.
That's why this country is going to the dogs.
It is called over officialdom!
JB.