We waste aorund 50% of the world's food
Discussion
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/half-food-produced-thrown...
The blame is on so many levels, but ultimately all a result of Capitalism, again?
Anyone truly surprised by this news needs to take a good look at themselves. I hate seeing people throw even their own food away.
I guess the good news is you can't really waste food, you can only feed it to the gulls, rats and microbes etc.
The blame is on so many levels, but ultimately all a result of Capitalism, again?
Anyone truly surprised by this news needs to take a good look at themselves. I hate seeing people throw even their own food away.
I guess the good news is you can't really waste food, you can only feed it to the gulls, rats and microbes etc.
mattikake said:
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/half-food-produced-thrown...
The blame is on so many levels, but ultimately all a result of Capitalism, again?
You mean without capitalism people wouldn't have enough to eat in the first place?The blame is on so many levels, but ultimately all a result of Capitalism, again?
mattikake said:
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/half-food-produced-thrown...
The blame is on so many levels, but ultimately all a result of Capitalism, again?
Anyone truly surprised by this news needs to take a good look at themselves. I hate seeing people throw even their own food away.
I guess the good news is you can't really waste food, you can only feed it to the gulls, rats and microbes etc.
Part of the problem IMO is that too many people don't know how to cook properly.The blame is on so many levels, but ultimately all a result of Capitalism, again?
Anyone truly surprised by this news needs to take a good look at themselves. I hate seeing people throw even their own food away.
I guess the good news is you can't really waste food, you can only feed it to the gulls, rats and microbes etc.
I used to be a dreadful cook when I was a student. Just bought convenience items to shove in the oven or microwave for x-minutes, all surplus chucked out at the end of the week. Our bins were always full and it felt shameful.
So, I learned to cook properly, and now it's almost a hobby. At the beginning of the week I get out a recipe book and plan everything I'm going to eat, then only buy ingredients for those things. OK, so I always have a reserve 'f
k-it pizza' (for those evenings where I'm late back in and/or have loads to do and just go 'fk it, I'll have a pizza'), but by the end of the week - no surplus food.It's all in planning and learning new skills - things it seems people these days think they have some kind of a right not to give a flying f
k about.And as for supermarkets rejecting 1/3 of food because it's not the 'right' shape or size - that's just shameful, as bad as throwing dead fish back into the sea.
Seems a terrible waste, of course, but I think I have to see the silver lining here.
We are told that as the global population grows we won't have enough natural resources to feed ourselves, but it seems the global population could double overnight and we'd have enough if only we didn't leave 30% rotting in the fields because it was ugly or throw half of it away because we've bought too much.
I suspect the resturants throw away a huge proportion of food, especially the family type places, the volume of food they put out as a portion! I guess they're trying to give VFM, but I don't think many people could actually finish a typical 3 course dinner at a Harvester or Fridays type place.
Of course it's madness, I can honestly say we rarely throw any food away in my house, maybe the odd carrot or spud that's fallen into a corner of the fridge and been forgotten about or the like but certainly not 50%, I'd be surprised if it was 5%. Its one thing that drives me mad, I guess all the tales of starving kids in Africa my parent’s guilt tripped me with are still having an effect.
My parents ironically enough wasted tonnes of food when I was a kid, I remember being dragged around the supermarket as they threw whatever was a hand into the trolley, nothing ever went together to actually make a meal. My Dad would bemoan the hundreds and hundreds a month they'd spend on food, get all angry and buy the cheapest crap he could find which would always find its way to the bin before anyone ever ate it.
We are told that as the global population grows we won't have enough natural resources to feed ourselves, but it seems the global population could double overnight and we'd have enough if only we didn't leave 30% rotting in the fields because it was ugly or throw half of it away because we've bought too much.
I suspect the resturants throw away a huge proportion of food, especially the family type places, the volume of food they put out as a portion! I guess they're trying to give VFM, but I don't think many people could actually finish a typical 3 course dinner at a Harvester or Fridays type place.
Of course it's madness, I can honestly say we rarely throw any food away in my house, maybe the odd carrot or spud that's fallen into a corner of the fridge and been forgotten about or the like but certainly not 50%, I'd be surprised if it was 5%. Its one thing that drives me mad, I guess all the tales of starving kids in Africa my parent’s guilt tripped me with are still having an effect.
My parents ironically enough wasted tonnes of food when I was a kid, I remember being dragged around the supermarket as they threw whatever was a hand into the trolley, nothing ever went together to actually make a meal. My Dad would bemoan the hundreds and hundreds a month they'd spend on food, get all angry and buy the cheapest crap he could find which would always find its way to the bin before anyone ever ate it.
The point about the supermarkets rejecting food may not be the whole story. When backpacking in Oz I worked on a few farms and everything was split into three categories; supermarkets got the best stuff, markets and local grocers got the seconds and all the manky stuff went into a big box that eventually became fruit juice. Mmm... fresh 
A tiny amount was thrown away. Each one of us moved hundreds of kilos of citrus per day and we only had a normal sized bucket for waste and they were rarely filled.
Whether that's the same in Europe I don't know but I'd imagine it's similar.
Blaming the supermarkets is a bit like blaming the banks for people getting themselves into debt. The responsibility should be on both sides.
Personally I can't bear seeing food thrown out.
A tiny amount was thrown away. Each one of us moved hundreds of kilos of citrus per day and we only had a normal sized bucket for waste and they were rarely filled.
Whether that's the same in Europe I don't know but I'd imagine it's similar.
Blaming the supermarkets is a bit like blaming the banks for people getting themselves into debt. The responsibility should be on both sides.
Personally I can't bear seeing food thrown out.
Well, certainly, I don't throw food out. I don't put more on my plate than I intend to eat. I also read the Use By date and make sure I eat food before it goes out of date (and have been known to hope for the best and eaten something past its Use By date 
).
My part of the blame would be that supermarkets only choose photogenic food and that's driven by consumer demand.
).My part of the blame would be that supermarkets only choose photogenic food and that's driven by consumer demand.
P-Jay said:
I suspect the resturants throw away a huge proportion of food, especially the family type places, the volume of food they put out as a portion!
Not this place in Taiwan! BEIJING, Jan. 9 - Taiwan's well-known to the reception of the mainland tour groups Taimali Hebe Haven restaurant yesterday former employees broke the news refers to recycling leftovers and then the group of mainland tourists to the platter transferred to food, it is estimated that The Yu Wan eating recycled dishes recent months. Part of mainland tourists informed, refer to "nausea! Too bad!"
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=dde_1357716104
With regard supermarket and wastage, that's only at depot/store.
The farms/packhouses dispose of significant volumes in excess of this, for in the main mild blemishes.
Some can be redirected to markets/commercial kitchens, but the market for that is pretty small in the grand scheme of things.
The citrus example is fair, but how often have you seen courgette juice for sale?
I remember a 4 month period of exceptionally hot weather in the tropics. My old employers was bringing in 4-5 containers a week of sweet potatoes/yams/kumara.
When the door of the container was opened, the product flowed out the door as a foul smelling liquid.
I think the average yield of that was around 3% sold 97% thrown.
Supermarket specifications are obscene. Tesco used (probably still do) have 8 different required specifications depending on pack size and brand (express/regular/finest).
fking ridiculous. Like cubic watermelon.
The farms/packhouses dispose of significant volumes in excess of this, for in the main mild blemishes.
Some can be redirected to markets/commercial kitchens, but the market for that is pretty small in the grand scheme of things.
The citrus example is fair, but how often have you seen courgette juice for sale?
I remember a 4 month period of exceptionally hot weather in the tropics. My old employers was bringing in 4-5 containers a week of sweet potatoes/yams/kumara.
When the door of the container was opened, the product flowed out the door as a foul smelling liquid.
I think the average yield of that was around 3% sold 97% thrown.
Supermarket specifications are obscene. Tesco used (probably still do) have 8 different required specifications depending on pack size and brand (express/regular/finest).
f
king ridiculous. Like cubic watermelon. Hoofy said:
My part of the blame would be that supermarkets only choose photogenic food and that's driven by consumer demand.
I suspect also that there's a size/weight issue too.I've noticed recently that fewer products in supermarkets are sold by weight. I don't know why this is, but if you want to buy a bunch of loose onions or apples or suchlike, you no longer seem to be able to measure as many as you want into a bag, weigh it and work out the cost. Instead, you pay per item.
No doubt this means that each one has to be roughly the same size and weight. If something's too small or too big, it will bugger up their costings.
I don't know why the scales have been taken away from so many supermarket aisles, but it's bloody annoying.
Something I found interesting. If I grow carrots organically, I get a bit of carrot fly damage. When we used to get the Riverford organic box scheme, there would typically be a bit of carrot fly damage. You buy organic carrots from the supermarket, and they're just as perfect as the ones that have been drenched in pesticides. So, have the supermarket suppliers found a foolproof way of keeping the little bds out of their crop without spraying or - as I suspect - is there absolutely massive wastage?
ds out of their crop without spraying or - as I suspect - is there absolutely massive wastage?Sell by dates or best before dates are a big problem there is nothing wrong with half the food but just because its sat on a shelf for a few hours too long it suddenly become unsaleable and is binned. I hope its actually not binned and sent to food banks and the like but I suspect it is.
Sway said:
The citrus example is fair, but how often have you seen courgette juice for sale?
Fair point although I also worked at an onion place and most of the waste from there was sold back to farms for pig food so I don't know if that would be classified as waste.So I'm dubious how much produce gets wasted before it hits the shelves, I suspect the problem begins there.
Dunno how long ago that was, but becoming more and more difficult to send waste produce for animal feed.
Especially now that blue gloves have to be work constantly.
We had a tipper skip by every line, one bit of blue glove in there and there'd be a dead pig or cow after, with the corresponding grief (and photos) from the farmer (rightly so, but bloody difficult to fix when each of 30 lines is throwing out a dozen tipper skips a shift...
Especially now that blue gloves have to be work constantly.
We had a tipper skip by every line, one bit of blue glove in there and there'd be a dead pig or cow after, with the corresponding grief (and photos) from the farmer (rightly so, but bloody difficult to fix when each of 30 lines is throwing out a dozen tipper skips a shift...
Sway said:
Dunno how long ago that was, but becoming more and more difficult to send waste produce for animal feed.
That would have been 2007 so it may have changed since. It wouldn't surprise me if the Australian system is 10 years behind us too - most things over there are 
Edited by durbster on Thursday 10th January 13:44
mattikake said:
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/half-food-produced-thrown...
The blame is on so many levels, but ultimately all a result of Capitalism, again?
c.
Actually it's the opposite. If it weren't for the socialist nanny state that most of Europe has become, with sell by dates, strict rules about size and colour of things etc etc this wouldn't be half the issue it is.The blame is on so many levels, but ultimately all a result of Capitalism, again?
c.
Of course, I'm being facetious, but my comment makes as much sense as yours.
I reckon supermarkets are missing a trick bigtime - people want very cheap food and there is it, being thrown away.
Lets be realistic though, this problem wouldn't exist without capitalism. The pressures of supermarket wanting quality (and deciding what they will pay for it, than the other way around!). Monocultures "advised" by the IMF, WHO and WB into producing the stuff as fast as possible, in an evironment not suiting to farming, because these countries owe us for bailing them out of repeated famines... from failed crops... cyclic or what? That's the same monocultures where 19,000 children die from starvation every day... just so you can get your cheap goods... that you then bin 50% of.
The decadent immorality of humanity beggars belief sometimes.
Lets be realistic though, this problem wouldn't exist without capitalism. The pressures of supermarket wanting quality (and deciding what they will pay for it, than the other way around!). Monocultures "advised" by the IMF, WHO and WB into producing the stuff as fast as possible, in an evironment not suiting to farming, because these countries owe us for bailing them out of repeated famines... from failed crops... cyclic or what? That's the same monocultures where 19,000 children die from starvation every day... just so you can get your cheap goods... that you then bin 50% of.
The decadent immorality of humanity beggars belief sometimes.
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