Food, Space, Culture & Society : Strategies for reducing food waste in the United Kingdom

1051 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Climate change impacts on agriculture

Food wastage is a significant problem in the United Kingdom with roughly 15% of edible food discarded each year (National Statistics, 2011), which directly costs the average consumer £480 annually (WRAP, 2011). The ‘Love Food Hate Waste’ campaign, run on behalf of the Waste and Resource Action programme’ (WRAP) explains that wasting food is both damaging to our finances and incredibly environmentally unsustainable; contributing unnecessarily to energy and water use in production, transportation and storage (LFHW[1], 2011). This has negative-multiplier effects including increased deforestation and land degradation (Forkes, 2007, cited in Mena, Adenso-Diab, Yurt, 2010). The 7.2 million tonnes of food wasted each year (LFHW[1], 2011) also contributes to one third of the UK’s annual CO2 emissions. If this wastage was eliminated the CO2 emission savings would be equivalent to removing 1 in 5 vehicles from the roads (Cabinet Office, 2008). This short essay will detail some measures that have been suggested to reduce food wastage among the various stakeholders, including producers and suppliers, retailers and the domestic sector.

Mena, Adenso-Diab and Yurt (2010) explored the root causes of food waste in the supply and retail sectors and concluded the main driver behind food waste were the natural characteristics of the product (shelf life, temperature regime, etc) when combined with market trends. The increasing demand for fresh produce and for food that is naturally seasonally unavailable correlated to the highest levels of waste as these products tended to have a very short shelf-life but are increasingly popular. Furthermore, other consumer-driven behaviours that have affected the extent to which food is wasted includes ...

... middle of paper ...

...od-pocketbook-2011-120216.pdf> Accessed 21/02/12

National Health Service, 2011, 'Food Labelling Terms - Live well - NHS Choices Accesed 21/02/12

Swedish Institute for Food and Biotechnology (SIK), Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations (UN), 2011, 'Global Food Losses and Food Waste: Extent, Causes and Prevention' FAO, pp v Accessed 21/02/12

Waste and Resource Action Programme(WRAP), 2011, Handy Facts and Figures: UK Retail and Hospitality/Foodservice Accessed 21/02/12

Waste2 Environmental Solutions, 2011, 'Supermarket Food Waste' Accessed 21/02/12

Show More
Related

  • Urbanization In Sacramento

    1364 Words  | 3 Pages

    A market where people can buy healthy, sustainable, organic local foods and goods, all without the marketing ploys and harmful environmental effects of wasteful packaging. It has been reported that 23% of all landfill waste is excess packaging, and certain modifications in types of packaging, like tin-foil liners in burger cartons or wrappers, makes then unable to be recycled and also inhibits their decomposition (EPA). By sourcing from local farmers and growers, and eliminating excess waste, the cost-effectiveness is passed on to the community

    Read More

  • Wasteful Americans

    1955 Words  | 4 Pages

    As Americans, we waste more food than many countries even consume. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, “The average American trashes 10 times as much food as a consumer in South east Asia” (Hsu). That is about equivalent to eating 10 meals to a consumer in South East Asia’s one meal. We throw away our left over food just because we are done ea...

    Read More

  • Analysis Of American Wasteland By Jonathan Bloom

    504 Words  | 2 Pages

    American Wasteland by Jonathan Bloom is a great book where he has been researching about food waste and providing us with facts about this big issue. Bloom’s tone is very optimistic, he knows that is not too late to change our minds while giving us information on who’s to blame for this waste, How have we come to produce so much excess food, what are the solutions to stop wasting nearly 50% of available food. There is many great points found in this book such as food insecurity, redistribution and cultural shift.

    Read More

  • Food Waste In America Essay

    978 Words  | 2 Pages

    According to Roni Neff, Marie Spiker, and Patricia Truant, up to 40% of all food produced in America is thrown away (Neff, Spiker, & Truant, 2015, p.2). This wasted food is worth hundreds of billions of dollars that is lost each year in the United States alone, and creates many threats to our country. Food waste is an important and widespread issue in the United States because most of the food thrown away is perfectly fine, it could be used to feed the hungry, and the waste hurts the environment.

    Read More

  • Summary Of The No Nonsense Guide To World Food

    769 Words  | 2 Pages

    The book The No-Nonsense Guide to World Food, by Wayne Roberts introduces us to the concept of “food system”, which has been neglected by many people in today’s fast-changing and fast-developing global food scene. Roberts points out that rather than food system, more people tend to recognize food as a problem or an opportunity. And he believes that instead of considering food as a “problem”, we should think first and foremost about food as an “opportunity”.

    Read More

  • Ron Nixon Food Waste

    238 Words  | 1 Pages

    In the article Food Waste is Becoming Serious Economic and Environmental Issue, Report Says, by Ron Nixon, food waste is described as being a serious matter and an environmental issue. This article describes that food waste is affecting the whole world and the people in it. People in poverty are struggling to have enough to eat while tons of food is being thrown away. “About 60 million metric tons of food is wasted in the United States… about 3.3 metric tons of it end up in landfills”. About a third of all the food made in the world is disposed of and never eaten. Organizations are trying to take action and stop the waste of food. The food that is abandoned is more than enough to feed all of the world’s 870 million hungry people. The food waste

    Read More

  • Foo Food Waste In Canada

    423 Words  | 1 Pages

    Even in the developing countries, they are losing an enormous amount of food in the landfill which will help them solve their starvation problem. In Canada, we are wasting about “$31 billion” worth of food annually (Chavich). The food produced on the planet is enough reported by The Food and the Agriculture Organization of UN “to feed the 795 million people who go hungry…” (Chapman 2). The organization also said that since the population is growing rapidly each year “reducing waste will be key to feeding 9 billion people” that will grow by “2050” (Chapman 2). Canadians need to wake up and start taking steps to solve this problem. Each person’s effort count. In Canada, food waste is happening at every level of food supply chain. The food waste is increasing rapidly. The reasons are farmers, supermarkets, and

    Read More

  • Food Labeling

    780 Words  | 2 Pages

    Introduction There once was a time when words like "light" and "low-fat" were on food packages that had no nutritional meaning. As a result, shoppers were often led to believe they were buying products that were more helpful than they really were. Nutrition panels on labels are also confusing and hard to read. But the Australia New Zealand Authority (ANZFA) changed all that. In March 2001 the ANZFA defined new standardized terms that appear on food labels such as "low-fat", "reduced" and "lean" to control how food manufacturers could put their facts that are relevant to most of our dietary needs.

    Read More

  • Food Pantries Research Paper

    829 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the United States thousands of pounds of food are thrown out each year from grocery stores. The primary reason food products are thrown out has little to do with consumability. It has to do with the little black numbers branded on every bottle, bag, and box proclaiming when a store should sell the labeled product by. When the date on the box is reached, the product is thrown away and no longer sold; however, most times the product is still able to be consumed and sellable. Another factor that contributes to unnecessary food waste is image. In stores, produce such as vegetables and fruit are often thrown away if they are considered to be” ugly” because who would want an “ugly” carrot or tomato. However, there are people who would gladly take

    Read More

  • Sustainability of The Global Food System

    1117 Words  | 3 Pages

    In order for us to maintain our lives, we need to consume food to supply nutrient-needs for our bodies. As the global population increased, the demand for food also increased. Increased population led to mass production of foods. However, even with this mass production, in under-developed countries, people are still undernourished. On other hand, in developed and developing countries, people are overfed and suffering from obesity. In addition, the current methods of industrial farming destroy the environment. These problems raised a question to our global food system. Will it be able to sustain our increasing global population and the earth? With this question in my mind, I decided to investigate the sustainability of our current global food system.

    Read More

  • Reducing Food Waste: The Case for 'Ugly' Produce

    2019 Words  | 5 Pages

    Food is something people take for granted these days since it is see in stock every day and there is an abundance of produce. What is also see in the market are produce that are almost in perfect shape and have no marks in them which are called ‘premium’ produce. Which can lead some to think that produce comes out like this, but that is not the case. In reality produce can be imperfect by with a dent or some marking on it that make it look ‘ugly’. Because of imperfections that the produce might contain it is thrown away since it doesn’t meet ‘premium standards.’ One of the ways that we can end food waste in the U.S is that grocery stores should offer a discount for ‘ugly’ food.

    Read More

  • Food Waste Problem

    336 Words  | 1 Pages

    This Memo is an information report regarding the Green Bin Program curbside collection, one of Canada’s solutions to the food waste problem in landfills. Since 1998 it’s been making its way across Canada. This year Brandon has adopted the program and Winnipeg may be next. I thought it would be informative for us to know the food waste problem in Canada, what this program is, and the progress it has made so far.

    Read More

  • Effects Of Food Waste On The Environment

    1272 Words  | 3 Pages

    I have chosen the topic of food waste and the impact on the environment. I will discuss the ridiculous amount of food that is wasted each year and the staggering amount of waste that could be avoided just by planning ahead, and purchasing from farmer’s markets and avoiding the main stream supermarkets who set such high standards on the aesthetic of produce that tonnes are wasted for no reason other then shape.

    Read More

  • Essay On Food Waste

    1295 Words  | 3 Pages

    Food waste is defined by food that is lost, wasted, or discarded and is caused through a few different processes. Food is wasted through many different ways at farms, grocery stores, and in homes. Over 40% of the food in the United States, specifically, goes to waste and 97% percent of this waste goes straight to landfills. The main issue with food waste is that the majority of food is being wasted unnecessarily. In stores, food is often thrown out because it does not meet specific standards that dictate what may be desirable to consumers. This issue of food picking is important as foods are not always being thrown away because they have gone bad, but because they have appearances that do not seem attractive. If we hope to lessen the environmental impact we have as a result of the mass

    Read More

  • Cause and Effects of Obesity

    936 Words  | 2 Pages

    Fat chance of beating obesity without’ strict’ food labeling. (2013, November29).The Sydney Morning Herald.[On-line]. Available: http://www.smh.com.au/national/fat-chance-of-beating-obesity-without-strict-food-labelling-20131128-2yehd.html

    Read More

More about Food, Space, Culture & Society : Strategies for reducing food waste in the United Kingdom

Open Document