New campaign fronted by Jimmy Doherty aims to reduce food waste and help to feed the needy.
Imagine Wembley Stadium. Now think of it packed almost to the brim with 11,500 tonnes of food destined for landfills. That’s how much food we throw away every year. Shocking, right?
Jimmy Doherty of Jimmy’s Farm fame is fronting a campaign to radically reduce food waste by presenting the public with some shocking figures. He tells me that, in struggling families, “22% of parents have to skip meals occasionally to make sure the kids get something to eat.”
But while one in five UK families live below the poverty line, millions of us are throwing good food away.
The food waste paradox
While comfortable families in the UK buy more food than they can eat and regularly waste it, 7 in 10 adults among the poorest feel anxious that they might not have enough to eat. And although 85% of us feel ‘sad and angry’ about food waste, a third of us think it’s easier to throw away leftover food than use it up.
These are the paradoxical findings from research undertaken by Unilever’s Project Sunlight, which is working with Oxfam to provide meals to those in need in the UK. Since 2012, they’ve provided nearly two million.
Rachel Orr, Head of Oxfam’s UK Poverty Programme, says that the campaign aims to highlight “the paradox that exists between the number of people who struggle to feed themselves and their families and the huge amount of food that gets thrown away every day in the UK.”
Though she accepts that reducing food waste won’t ultimately reduce food poverty, the campaign aims to raise awareness of the “unacceptable levels of hunger across the country” experienced by hundreds of thousands of people.
#ClearAPlate
“Last year,” says Jimmy, “900,000 people had to go to food banks to request emergency food, which is unbelievable.” The #ClearAPlate campaign is simple: clear your plate of food and take a photograph. Upload the image to social media accounts using the hashtag #ClearAPlate. The purpose of this is not to encourage overeating, but to raise awareness of the tremendous amount of food wasted in the UK.
Unilever will be providing 500,000 meals to help families who are struggling to afford food, distributing these via the Trussell Trust, which runs around 400 food banks in the UK and are vital parts of some communities. Food banks “aren’t about dependency,” he explains, “it’s about getting people back on their feet. People are referred there by their doctors and health workers – they’re really in a sticky situation.”
He aims to encourage people to not waste food, by not cooking too much and not throwing away their leftovers.
As a farmer, Jimmy knows the effort it takes to put food on the plate in the first place, and urges people to cut their waste. As he puts it, “Waste is cash!”
Think about the cash value of what you’re throwing in the bin – households with children are throwing away over £700 a year in food, according to WRAP, a not-for-profit organisation which promotes the sustainable use of resources.
What can I do?
Reducing food waste can be fairly simple. If something is out of date and there’s a real health risk – for example, when dealing with old cuts of meat – then don’t eat it. But other things – Jimmy gives the example of cheese or pickles – last far longer. "I go down the route of common sense," Jimmy says. "Have a sniff – if it smells OK it’ll be alright.”
How you store your food can also have an impact. “If you have little packets everywhere that become half empty, and chuck bits and bobs away” that can soon add up. Jimmy suggests keeping foods like rice or pasta in big, clear glass jars so that you can see them all and top them up, rather than throwing away a little at a time.
Good portion control can help you not overcook. “Measure things out, so you’re not just cooking handfuls of spaghetti in the pan to boil away. That saves a lot of money.”
And doing “a little stock-take before you go shopping” can also save you cash and prevent you from throwing food away.
If you come across a multi-buy deal, think about whether you will actually eat all the food before it goes bad. “If you can, steer clear of it. I know they’re irresistible, those things.”
But if it’s tinned, or dried food, Jimmy suggests that you “take advantage of it, take the one product you need and give the others to a food bank.”
And if I have leftovers?
“If you’re eating and there’s a bit leftover, you can freeze your leftovers – if they’re all similar foods you can make a meal out of it later.” That strategy is great for making curry, he suggests. “What I tend to do if there’s a lot of vegetables, they all go in a pan with plenty of water and I make a stock out of it. I do that with all my meat [too], chicken carcasses, that kind of stuff.”
Bubble and squeak is another option should your leftovers suit. “There’s a culture now where the leftovers are seen as untouchable, which is madness.”
Will you take part in the #ClearAPlate campaign? Or donate food to support Oxfam and Project Sunlight? Let us know in the Comments below.
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