Did you know that this week is Food Waste Action Week? I must admit - I didn’t, but found out when researching the topic for this week’s blog. (By the way, I am no expert, but hopefully it will interest many of you). Love Food Hate Waste is a website with some great ideas.

'30% of global greenhouse gases come from producing our food - we can’t afford to waste it’. About a third of the food is lost or wasted and this contributes to climate change by producing 8-10% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (Source wrap.org.uk). If you would like to read a paper with more statistics and references on this topic see Our World in Data. The WWF talks about some simple steps to reduce the environmental impacts of food waste: plan ahead and buy only what you need, use your freezer, be creative with leftovers, blend, bake or boil, talk it up.

Wicked Leeks discusses why we should reduce food waste. No Time to Waste - is part of a joint campaign with Riverford to help people cut food waste and raise awareness. It mentions about food having a carbon footprint, less food waste helping to combat climate change and food waste being bad for farmers (A short article worth a read). Food Rescue Hubs are ‘an eco-community on a mission to rescue food from landfill’. Have a look at their interesting website in the link and become a #foodrescuehero. Food waste is a massive global, U.K. and local issue. Food Rescue (Source DEFRA, 2018) states that 'in the UK we produce approximately 7 million tonnes of food waste each year and 5 million tonnes of this is still edible’. The Food Rescue Hub talks about the 6 Rs: Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Rot and Rescue. They have some great tips.

During the pandemic there has been a rise in the use of foodbanks. The Trussell Trust is an organisation which 'supports a nationwide network of food banks’. Some of you reading this - I know several people - will have donated to or helped at their local foodback during the pandemic or at other times. If you want to find out where your local foodbank is, see the ‘Get help’ section in the above link. Many local foodbanks have groups on FaceBook - do you know if there is one near you? If you know of someone who doesn’t have enough money for food they may be able to get help through an independent food bank, but if not they can ask for a referral through their nearest Citizens Advice.

Another initiative is the setting up of Community larders. These are food clubs offering low cost food which would otherwise be wasted. These can be set up as charities and there is funding available from some councils for this purpose. You may be interested in finding out if there is one in your area. We are planning on setting one up in our community.

I hope that you have found this short blog (and the links) of interest. Please sign up let me know in the comments section. I would be keen to hear what topics you would like me to cover. If you are interested please join my group on Facebook which has the name LOCAL.

Plogart Pat

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