by Michael Smith (Veshengro)
Can you really afford to burn $75 a month, for you might as well? You can't? Well, I didn't think so either, and neither can I or most people.
That, however, is the amount that the average family in Britain wastes each month on food that never gets eaten, probably more in the USA, but I am not sure about that. Somehow, knowing the way a great number of people are in the UK Britain may be the food waste capital of the world, so to speak.
Let us think about the so-called “food cycle” for a minute or two.
Let's think about those bananas you threw away the other day; the ones that had turned a little black. Or the orange that had a little soft spot. All those fruit, predominately, come from somewhere far away – or where did you last see bananas grow and ripen in England? – and this means that the transport costs are extremely high. Same with the “organic” green beans from Kenya – flown to Britain daily.
Costs that are not factored in when we think of buying them – because they are cheap on the supermarket shelves – and tossing them out if a little gone past it. The “gone past it” does not mean that you can no longer safely eat them but may folks think just that.
Once the bananas or the beans leave the farm it then has to be taken to the port by a dirty carbon emitting truck and then on to the ship destined for the UK, which again puts out a lot of emissions. Or, as in the case of the beans from Kenya, to the airport when cargo planes will then take them to Britain, daily. Emissions, emissions, emissions and pollution above measure.
Once the stuff arrives in Britain, it needs to get trucked around various places like the wholesalers and the warehouses of the supermarkets before getting taken by yet another truck to the store. So, in all cases, lots of emissions that are not thought about by most people.
It is at this point, the very point when that banana, that aubergine, that orange, etc. is already loaded high with emissions that you buy it at the store and take it home. There it then sits patiently with all your other purchases in your fruit bowl or your vegetable basket.
While some of your purchases indeed reach their full potential by being eaten, not all do. When this item of fruit, or that vegetable, gets old and wrinkly and unappealing, you send it on an undignified final journey by throwing it in the bin.
Unless it gets actually into your compost bin than into the trash can it then has to be taken away in yet another dirty truck to its burial at its final resting place, the local or not so local landfill site.
What an awful waste! Having said that, though, I do have admit that I am guilty of this myself at times, but, and that does not make me all that much better either, with me such stuff goes into the composting bin and not the trash can.
Let's look for a moment at local produce too in this (or sometimes not that local but still not far away) such as, say, apples. If they get a little wrinkly that does not mean that you cannot eat them anymore. If they are no longer appealing to you to eat directly then use them up in salads – chopped up – or make them into smoothies. You can also use them in a variety of hot pot meals, such as stews and the likes of sausage hot pot; some recipes actually call for apples. Don't use eating quality ones for that; use the wrinkly ones.
Britain, as a whole, creates over 20 billion dollars worth of food waste each year, but undoubtedly some of that equation is from food wastes at restaurants, schools kitchens and the kitchens at the Houses of Parliament. Some of the government places create the greatest amount of waste, and not just in food.
Most of the food that is waste in the United Kingdom is thrown away is unopened, because people do not understand what the dates mean that are printed on the packages.
On the other hand food waste also is bad at stores and market stalls. There used to be a time when store owners and market traders would give fruit and vegetables that were a little blemished away at the end of the day to the children of the poor to take home. This is now illegal under British and European Union laws.
With some simple tips and easy steps you can to cut down on your food waste starting today and start saving too:
First of all make it a habit to only buy as much as you need, plus, in my view, a little above that to have stuff at home as and when things may happen. The latter should be but canned food.
Buying more than we need is one of the biggest reasons for food wastage. However, the notion of buying fresh and what we need on a daily basis, with local stores being often way too expensive, if they exist, and having to travel a couple of miles at least to a supermarket, is not always easy.
Another thing is to learn which fruit and vegetables can be stored together or near each other and which cannot. Some, such as bananas, should not be near other fruit as they give off a gas that causes other fruit to ripe prematurely. The same is true with some vegetables, onions amongst them. They too must be stored on their own and away from other veg. Proper storage of everything is extremely important to extend the life of the produce stored.
Learn the difference between “Sell By”, “Use By” and “Best Before” dates. You can use all food products up until their ‘Use-By’ date and with some common sense often even beyond that. With poultry, probably, fish, shellfish and pork, the “Use By” date should be observed because those are known to cause problems if off, sometimes if only slightly.
Recycle your fruit and veg peelings by starting a compost heap.
Some might suggest you become a Freegan as well and that is fine and good where possible and if you have got the time, but...
© 2010
