Half of all food thrown away!

[Workingman]

That is the claim from a report by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers - "up to half of the food that is bought in Europe and the US is thrown away by consumers."

Do you believe it? Do you throw half of your food away? Do you know anyone who does? I don't, and I do not believe the figures. If they were remotely true the streets would be littered with half-eaten pasties, sandwiches, burgers, chicken meals and our household bins would need to be ginormous.

Another claim is that 30% - 40% of UK crops go unharvested. Farmers say that the true figure is 16% and that most of that is down to weather events. They also say that unharvested crops are not wasted as they are dug back in to compost.

So, what is this all about? My guess is that this scare story is to put us all on a guilt trip for some reason, and I wonder why? What are we being set up for?

[JoM]

I read that and it made me wonder what was going on,or is about to be going on, too

I know we certainly don't throw much food away at all, in all honestly all I can remember throwing away in the last week was an overripe and bruised banana. I can usually think of a way of using up anything that could potentially go to waste and everything that go onto the plates at meal times is eaten.

I will say though that walking around on bin days there are some wheelie bins which are fit to burst with lids that won't close so maybe the are some people who aren't very organised when it comes to shopping for the week and buy an excessive amount which in turn goes out of date?

[Aggers]

I, too, can't accept that we throw away half of the food we buy.

But if you include in the calculation the amount of foodstuffs that are grown but which,
alhough fit to eat, the supermarkets won't accept because it doesn't meet their criteria,
then maybe 50% is nearer the mark.

[Workingman]

Jo, I see bins full to bursting, but it can't all be food... surely?

Aggers, the calculation was based on what we consumers throw away. The supermarkets, and the farmers, claim that only 7% of the total are disregarded crops and that most of those go to open market or into products such as soups and stews - ready meals, the rest is made into animal feed.

[Rodo]

Hardly anything is thrown away in this house. I even make stock with chicken bones and find ways of using up most things.

[debih]

I also find it hard to believe and assumed that the majority of that figure was made up of food that supermarkets threw away.

We throw away very little food. We are all guilt of not eating the crusts each end of the bread if we have a sliced loaf so I usually whizz it up to breadcrumbs and freeze it in a box with some I have done earlier. Since the water leak I haven't had my multichef out to do it so the birds now get any left over bread.

The same with fruit - I usually make any left over fruit into smoothies or juice, but without my blender I haven't been able to do it so the birds get it at the moment.

At least it isn't really wasted.

[Kaz]

I also think these figures must be based on the policies of the supermarkets, and perhaps consumer behaviour in the US? No way do I throw out anything remotely near to a half of what I buy The odd rotten banana or squished tomato, but not much else

[KateLMead]

I have observed on TV squatter's who according to them live like Lords on throw away produce from Supermarkets in particular.
I know I tend to over buy, but I have a lovely lad who does odd jobs for me who is delighted when I fill a bag of pate's from the freezer curries,lasagne's other things I have put in them. Plus my neighbour has a treat (as she calls it)

[Workingman]

I see a pattern emerging from our replies, and it is probably the one intended by the report writers; that the fault lies with the supermarkets.

This seems a bit strange when the farmers, allegedly abused by the supermarkets, and the supermarkets themselves claim it is nonsense. And a cursory observation of any supermarket yard would show that the skips outside would need to be the size of shipping containers if half of all food was thrown away - all day, every day. Freegans and food banks and do well out of what the supermarkets discard, but that must be less than a few percent of all the food sold and in the store.

Something does not add up, yet the media has made great mileage out of the "half thrown away" headline.

[cromwell]

So, what is this all about? My guess is that this scare story is to put us all on a guilt trip for some reason, and I wonder why? What are we being set up for?

We are being set up for massive rises in the cost of basic foodstuffs, imo.