Wasting Food is Wasting Life #RespectFood
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The biggest culprits are the supermarkets themselves. Bread and fruit with two days left on it. This morning at Sainsburys buying some grapes to go with half an orange for supper in the evening, the best date was 23rd October, most of them 21st October i.e. today. One box lasts us 4 days on average so needs at least 5 days expiry on it. A carton of plums where one fruit had a massive split in it.
Asda (locally) are even worse with their fresh produce though they seem quite happy to pile up mountains of doughnuts, muffins and tins of chocolates.
God knows what happens to the out of date produce but blame the supermarkets for buying too much stuff in with a limited shelf life, not the consumer. We rarely waste food at home other than trimming the fat off (e.g. gammon) or if it has gone off.
Asda (locally) are even worse with their fresh produce though they seem quite happy to pile up mountains of doughnuts, muffins and tins of chocolates.
God knows what happens to the out of date produce but blame the supermarkets for buying too much stuff in with a limited shelf life, not the consumer. We rarely waste food at home other than trimming the fat off (e.g. gammon) or if it has gone off.
Soldato
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Someone needs to set up a dedicated government run service (part funded by the supermarkets) that collects the food they're going to throw out. If they run it well and collections can be made swiftly and within proper food hygiene legislation etc. then I see no reason this food can't be distributed to those who need it FOC, or at least extremely heavily subsidised.
There's no excuse for it, especially in this day in age with the technology we have to hand. It can't be run by volunteers because I don't think they will have the manpower or finances to set up such a huge scale operation that needs a quick turn around, food banks are one thing but this is something totally different. Old Frank down at the village hall who has a dozen tins of beans on his shelf isn't going to cope with this sort of set up.
It would create jobs, help out those struggling with food and all sorts of win/win benefits, it's a complete no-brainer.
There's no excuse for it, especially in this day in age with the technology we have to hand. It can't be run by volunteers because I don't think they will have the manpower or finances to set up such a huge scale operation that needs a quick turn around, food banks are one thing but this is something totally different. Old Frank down at the village hall who has a dozen tins of beans on his shelf isn't going to cope with this sort of set up.
It would create jobs, help out those struggling with food and all sorts of win/win benefits, it's a complete no-brainer.
Supply and demand. If people didn't expect to be able to demand fresh plums at all times of year no matter what, supermarkets wouldn't supply them.
Indeed. Grapes are another example, they used to only be available at certain times of the year and were very expensive on the shoulder of that period. They were also sold loose not packaged in plastic cartons or plastic bags as they are now. Satsumas used to be a Christmas treat. You can tell a lot of the fruit and veg in the supermarkets is force grown too, year round strawberries being a case in point, bland and watery.
Soldato
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Agree, no point in buying many of the fruits off season.
So how much cost do you want to add to food to fund it, because what you are proposing is a sales tax on supermarket bought food...
Soldato
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Well, for a second imagine it was me in charge, I'd ban them from putting up the cost of food to help pay for it. There are plenty of them to split up the cost and I only said part funded.
If they're willing to throw perfectly good food away then they should be made to bear the cost of preventing it.
If they're willing to throw perfectly good food away then they should be made to bear the cost of preventing it.
It would be good to have a 24 hour delay on food, for example, when it's reach the end of its date in a supermarket, where the supermarket can send it to a restaurant for example and as long as they use it within the 24 hours, then it's still considered legal to serve.
was watching "food unwrapped" on C4 last night, they've made a plastic film substitute from old seafood shells that is actually anti-microbial and anti-bacterial. so it helps the food last longer.
this stuff needs to be pushed out asap. less wasted food and less plastic waste in the environment.
edit - this stuff https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...ells-into-biodegradable-plastic-idUSKBN169179
this stuff needs to be pushed out asap. less wasted food and less plastic waste in the environment.
edit - this stuff https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...ells-into-biodegradable-plastic-idUSKBN169179
Soldato
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No idea if it's still the case, but until ~10 years ago, charities such as Fairshare would collect fruit and veg from stores that deemed items unsuitable to sell, but the decent stuff was distributed that day to local charities.
Were the grapes in good condition except for the sell by date?
If so then what does the sell by date even matter? If they’re fine in the shop then they’ll be fine for the 4 days you will be eating them at home.
Perhaps the solution is to stop putting sell by dates on fruit.
As for wastage, shops were/are a bit hamstrung with what to do with it without having liability or breaking the law. That’s changed a bit relatively recently and a lot of shops are now giving what they can to food banks and charities. The issue is sell (and even use) by dates are arbitrary but considered by law and many others as the be all end end all. Fruit doesn’t really have a “sell by” and tins, dry goods, drinks and many other products can last months/years after the dates printed on the packaging.
Meat and dairy are a relative exception, but even then the use by dates on them are only recommendations. The meat could go off before that, or way after.
Supermarkets don’t want to waste food, it cuts into their profit for one.
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When it comes fresh fruit and veg, the dates are usually just "display until" dates. Which mean the supermarkets needs to clear them by the end of that date, still perfectly fine to eat afterwards as long as they haven't gone rotten.
It's not just supermarkets that need blamed for waste, consumers do to. We need to stop worrying about best before dates and go off condition instead. If it looks fine, smalls fine, then it is fine.
It's not just supermarkets that need blamed for waste, consumers do to. We need to stop worrying about best before dates and go off condition instead. If it looks fine, smalls fine, then it is fine.
Supermarkets already donate their unsold produce to foodbanks and community groups who want it. Ones that cook meals etc. Most foodbanks can't take out of date stuff to give to the public the same way as a supermarket can't sell it.
Surely that’s a hitch that can be worked out? I mean I’m sure I’m not the only one who has tried stuff out of date a lot of the time it’s perfectly fine
Yes I'll eat anything out of "date". I won't bin half a punnet of grapes just because they are past the "display date" like the chap earlier on in the thread.