tzijlstra Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 you probably haven't heard of this yet, as I have only just discovered this via a friend, who is a chef, on Facebook but this is the EU "year against food waste". The EU has launched a campaign this year working with food retailers and producers to try and cut the absurd levels of food waste occurring in Europe. Over 40% of food is wasted in the process from farm/fishing trawler to consumer. It is clear why this is a bad thing: we are wasting natural resources to produce this stuff and then it ends up being chucked out because "it is not appealing to the consumer" or because only part of the product (for example with fish/meat) is deemed of interest for commercial exploitation. You already know this, what you don't know is that there is now a ground swell of initiatives across Europe that are slowly changing things around. A French supermarket chain is now selling 'inglorious fruit and vegetables' next to the standard that consumers expect, the difference is in the price: the stuff that is deemed not standard retails for a quarter of the price: carrots with funny shapes, aubergines with a funny extra growth, oranges with overdeveloped 'navels', potatoes that are too big/small and so on, and so on. It is, apparently, a runaway success. We already see supermarkets 'recycling' their over date or near over date products by working with food banks and the like, but things could go so much further! Would you buy 'inglorious' veg and fruit? I know I would if the price is right, I used to buy directly from farmers who were left with sometimes half their stock because it didn't fit supermarket criteria: The stuff tastes exactly the same! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Se7enhills Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 Losing the idiot "best before " dates on food would be a good idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronthenekred Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 Losing the idiot "best before " dates on food would be a good idea. No no no..I can fill 3 freezers up for a tenner, keep it coming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tzijlstra Posted July 21, 2014 Author Share Posted July 21, 2014 Losing the idiot "best before " dates on food would be a good idea. Yep, that is one of the points of attention apparently. So many people chuck stuff out blindly because it 'is not best', it might not be best but you can still do loads of stuff with it! Reminds me of a documentary I saw of a man eating mouldy bread. Just to demonstrate that the mould doesn't actually kill you. It helped of course that he was a biologist with mould (funghi) as his specialisation! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GLASGOWOODS Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 Broken biscuits have been on sale for decades. Not sure if they were much cheaper though?? I would certainly buy produce that's odd in shape/size, if a bit cheaper. I think it was a Sainsbury store on the Beeb this morning, who are using their waste food to generate one of their stores power needs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Se7enhills Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 People get the best before date and the Use By date confused,,,,the latter is more important but it still wont kill you. Many years ago my grandmother was a servant in some nasty evil rich people's house and one of her jobs was to pick the maggots off the Game the used to like to eat - they ddint know that but its how high they liked them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
megalithic Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 I doubt i'm alone in this, but i use my eyes and sense of smell in regards to food. If both points pass my personal check system then they get eaten regardless of any dates printed on them. I absolutely hate wasting food. On a recent 7 day backpacking trip i carried a block of cheese from day 1, and finished it at home. No refrigeration involved, my rucksack was too small for a fridge. Some people really are too "precious" when it comes to what they'll eat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tzijlstra Posted July 22, 2014 Author Share Posted July 22, 2014 I agree, people are over sensitive about food, not sure where it comes from though! But there is a much bigger thing going on in the supply chain, this is where most stuff gets wasted and it is about time that, as a society, we do something about it and our mentality to food. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perplexed Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 There is zero food waste in our house. I don't get how people can get to a position where they chuck so much away. If we buy it, it gets consumed. We certainly don't peel carrots or spuds. Any 'inedibles' such as pineapple skins, go into the worm-compost thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tzijlstra Posted July 22, 2014 Author Share Posted July 22, 2014 There is zero food waste in our house. I don't get how people can get to a position where they chuck so much away. If we buy it, it gets consumed. We certainly don't peel carrots or spuds. Any 'inedibles' such as pineapple skins, go into the worm-compost thing. Unfortunately the problem isn't necessarily in the household - it is in the process leading up to the stuff getting into your house. The farmer where we used to buy food used to produce around 100 tonnes of carrots each year - a third of which was 'turned over' meaning it wouldn't meet the criteria and have to be returned to the ground at some point. He tried to sell it as livestock fodder but most farmers in the area already had supplies and delivering it to the fodder factories would cost more than it was worth. What this means is that the two thirds that is left over has to be sold at a higher price to meet the expense of the losses in production. When you realise that, selling the 'undesirable' food will actually bring the price down for both categories - although I doubt any profit will return to the farmers somehow! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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