It's now well known that a depressingly large amount of edible food goes to waste -- more than 4 million tonnes every year in the UK. What is less well understood is why people throw so much food away. A new report on domestic food waste, commissioned by the retailer Sainsbury's, sheds some light on the problem.
Despite the increasing public scrutiny being placed on food waste, the research found that only 3% of people feel there is a social stigma attached to wasting food.
In this culture, food is seen as a throw-away item, food waste has become 'normalised', and people do not even notice they are throwing away good food. For example, many of us think nothing of buying an unusual ingredient for a single recipe, knowing the rest of the product may be wasted, and many of us still do not bother to use up leftovers. The full report, entitled Modern Life is Rubbish, is available here.
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Sustain: Sustain The alliance for better food and farming advocates food and agriculture policies and practices that enhance the health and welfare of people and animals, improve the working and living environment, enrich society and culture and promote equity.
