Food Waste & Sustainability

What is Food Waste?

Food waste is defined as any products that are discarded instead of consumed. It is split into 4 categories:

1. By product food waste- Solid and liquid food products made through manufacturing or production processes such as peels and trimmings.

2. Expired products- Products that have passed their sell by date in supermarkets.

3. Leftovers- Any food made at home or in restaurants during preparation and cooking.

4. Bakery and packaged food waste- Unsold food items that can get spoilt easily.

The most popular food waste items include bread, cheese, milk, potatoes, and apples (1).

Resources are needed in food production including land, energy, and water. If we consider farming, production, distribution, and delivery along with waste our present food system has a huge impact on our planet. Food production contributes to greenhouse gas emissions, is a leading cause of deforestation, soil, and water pollution, it accounts for human water use and the marine ecosystem is ruined with overfishing. As a result, food waste is a major issue worldwide, our eating habits also have an impact on the environment and could be ruining the future security of the planet (2).

What do the statistics show?

We know wasting food feeds climate change, 70% of all food wasted comes from our homes, we throw away 4.5 million tonnes of food every year (equivalent of 38 million filled wheelie bins). Around 14 billion pounds worth of food is thrown away in the UK costing the earth in many ways (3).

Food poverty is a major problem in the UK with around 4 million children living in homes struggling to afford to buy healthy foods and 3 million tonnes of food waste is produced by the food industry yearly (4).

A recent report by the charity Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) showed that the UK produced 9.5 million tonnes of food waste in 2018, the majority coming from households. As part of the United Nations’ sustainable development goals, the food UK Government has succumbed to halving the UK’s capita food waste by 2030. Over time there has been a reduction in food waste and the UK adults’ attitude to and behaviours on food waste survey carried out by WRAP during Covid 19 2020, showed an overall decrease in reported levels of food waste and 79% of respondents managed their food waste better by using up leftovers, pre planning and checking use by dates (5).

The crisis of food waste means it impacts on our environment as food is meant for human consumption and if food waste were a country, it would be the third highest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world and sadly, we are throwing perfectly good food. Over 10 million tonnes of food are binned in the UK each year (6).

Food that is not going to be sold but is still edible is known as surplus food and it occurs everywhere in the supply chain. It is a legal requirement for UK companies to follow the waste hierarchy principles to deal with food waste which are reduce, feed people in need, feed livestock, compost & 100% renewable energy and disposal (7).

Why is food wasted?

Food loss occurs when food becomes spoilt or spilt prior to harvesting or when stored, transported, and delivered because of weather, insects, high temperatures or poor storage conditions.

Food waste can occur for many reasons such as it’s been left to go off, it’s not been eaten for some time, when shops stop ordering unpopular food products, or switch suppliers leaving stocks to go spoilt. Also, when households buy more food than required.

The food system plays a crucial role in climate change and as a nation we should play a part in not wasting food (8).

Food Sustainability

Reducing food waste can create a positive impact for nutrition and environmental sustainability. Food security also plays a role as different foods vary in their nutritional content and environmental footprint. An assessment on house food waste in the UK showed that annual food wasted by a person in the UK can provide a healthy diet (meeting recommended levels for 21 nutrients plus energy) to a single person for 42 days (9).

Food is the most single powerful driver to optimise human health and environmental sustainability on earth however it is also threatening to our people and the planet.

Many studies show that a diet rich in plant-based foods and less animal sources results in improved health and environmental outcomes. A planetary health plate should aim to consist with half the plate of fruit and vegetables, the other half should include wholegrains, plant protein sources, unsaturated plant oils and modest amount of animal sources of protein. Healthy diets have an optimum caloric intake including a diversity of plant-based foods, low amounts of animal foods, include unsaturated fats and limit amounts of highly processed foods, refined grains and added sugars (10).

Ideally, we want to see a shift in dietary patterns as the current UK diet does not meet the correct proportion of foods to meet a sustainable diet. Based on the Eatwell Guide recommendations we should be aiming to increase plant-based proteins, starchy carbohydrates, whole fruit, and vegetables, reduce red meat, salt, saturated fat, and sugar consumption to achieve an environmentally sustainable diet. 30% of UK greenhouse gas emissions are partly due to meat and dairy consumption (11).

Whilst no food or drink should be avoided, we should consume everything in moderation, perhaps consider their environmental impact and nutrition. For example, plant-based milks are growing in popularity, and it is important consumers are made aware to consume fortified versions.

Tips to Reduce Waste

Take your leftover meals to work or consume for next day meal, try not to cook more than needed, freeze your meals, use up left over food, use cooked ingredients into other meals, plan your meals ahead, make a shopping list, check what you have in your fridge, freezer and pantry, set your fridge to the right temperature, know your date labels such as best before end and use by, cook and freeze to portions or batch cook, store and cook food well so they keep fresh, foods can be frozen such as bread, meat and milk and try cooking one pot meals where you can use up any vegetables or leftovers (12).

Meals such as omelettes, stews and casseroles, pies, soups, pasta bakes are a great way to use up what’s in your fridge, ripened fruit why not bake a cake such as banana bread.

Think about making use of your food staples such as oats, tinned products, flour, pasta, potatoes, and rice.

Support and action on food waste

‘Small changes make a huge difference to the planet, lets fight food waste and remember food is to be eaten not thrown away’

Written by: Gopika Chandratheva (RNutr)

Humaira AzeemComment