LONDON - New research has revealed that Britons waste a whooping 6.7 million tons of unused fresh fruit, vegetables and baked items annually. The Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) estimated that the cost of these food items touches at least £8 billion per year.
Therefore a new campaign called 'Love Food Hate Waste' has been launched in the country with an aim of increasing awareness among consumers. The organizers estimated that almost one third of all food purchased in Britain's High Street ends up being wasted.
Food that is thrown away often ends in landfills, where it decays and released gases like methane, which are classified greenhouse gases. The WRAP claims that when energy expended to pack and transport the food is taken into account, almost 15 million tonnes of carbon dioxide is spewed into the atmosphere.
"Our research showed that 90 per cent of consumers are completely unaware of the amount of food they throw away. Once attention is drawn to it however, we know that people are surprised and keen to take action," said Liz Goodwin, chief executive of WRAP. "If we could halt the amount of food being wasted in this way, we would make a big impact – the same as taking 1 in 5 cars off UK roads."
The Love Food Hate Waste campaign is also being backed by celebrity chefs including Ainsley Harriott, who said that throwing away vast amounts of food was a criminal waste. "You don't have to be a chef to know how to cut down on food waste, you just need to care about your food and your pocket and the rest will follow," he added.
For more information on the campaign as well as tips to prepare and store food, please visit the website www.lovefoodhatewaste.com
Love Food Hate Waste campaign launched in the UK
