Time to slice loaf waste
Tips for Food Waste Action Week and beyond
According to Love Food Hate Waste, UK households waste something like 20 million slices (equivalent to around one million large loaves) of bread EVERY DAY!
Now, we reckon that the vast majority of that is in fact industrial loaf product, rather than bread, but there are still things that Real Bread lovers can do as well.
#FoodWasteActionWeek
At home
One of the simplest things loaf lovers can do is to slice bread, then wrap and freeze it to defrost and use a slice at a time as needed.
Beyond toast, the Real Bread Campaign has published tips for slowing staling and storing bread at home.
The site also includes recipes for leftovers, with more in the book Slow Dough: Real Bread.
Business owners
No Loaf Lost is the free, dough saving guide to surplus reduction for SME bakeries.
While Food Waste Awareness Week is designed to help reduce food being wasted at home, Real Bread makers can also take action in the bakery.
The Real Bread Campaign encourages all bakeries to look at how they can not only prevent suplus from going to waste, but also minimise the leftovers they generate in the first place.
#NoLoafLost
More stats
According to Love Food Hate Waste, UK households throw away 6.6 million tonnes of food a year. This food waste is responsible for nearly 25 million tonnes of CO2 emissions, equivalent to 5.4% of the UK’s territorial emissions. The majority (4.5 million tonnes) is food that could have been eaten and is worth approximately £14 billion - that's around £60 a month for an average family with two children. It requires an area almost the size of Wales to produce all the food and drink currently wasted in the UK.
Love Food Hate Waste and Food Waste Action Week are both run by the environmental charity WRAP.
The Real Bread Campaign is a Courtauld 2025 Engagement Partner.
Published Monday 7 March 2022
Real Bread Campaign: The Real Bread Campaign finds and shares ways to make bread better for us, better for our communities and better for the planet. Whether your interest is local food, community-focussed small enterprises, honest labelling, therapeutic baking, or simply tasty toast, everyone is invited to become a Campaign supporter.
