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PM : UK wasting far too much food

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Britons will today be urged to make saving food as important as saving energy, with the publication of a government report which reveals that more than 4m tonnes of food are wasted each year at a cost of hundreds of pounds per household.

The Cabinet Office review of food policy states that the UK throws away an annual 4.1m tonnes of edible goods, the equivalent of £420 for every home.

Though Downing Street is wary of hectoring voters about what they eat, the call for greater awareness will come from Gordon Brown on the first day of the G8 summit in Japan, where rising food and energy prices will dominate debate between world leaders.

On his way there yesterday, the prime minister referred to the report: "If we are to get food prices down, we must also do more to deal with unnecessary demand - such as all of us doing more to cut food waste which is costing the average household in Britain around £8 per week."

Brown is also preparing for a potential clash with the US by calling for a moratorium on some biofuels, which are blamed for contributing to the global food crisis that has seen the price of staple goods soar. He will draw upon conclusions of two especially commissioned reports, one being that from the Cabinet Office, to argue for a rethink over food production and biofuels.
Ogmin

12 responses // PM : UK wasting far too much food

  • The sheer volume of food that is thrown into the garbage every day is beyond embarrassing and is an issue that all nations would do well to begin mulling over as soon as possible.

    Furthermore, support and subsidies for corn-based ethanol should be completely and utterly abandoned immediately. There is no upside to using food for fuel--except for farmers--and there are promising alternatives that could better use that funding to take biofuels to a whole new level.
    mako2424
    1 response to this
  • Grow your own, once you've spent that much time growing it, your not gonna chuck it away to quickly.
    Jimmy_Underdog
  • Mr. Brown makes a good point - wasting food IS by extension wasting energy, and people need to be made aware of it.

    There's also too much of a culture of food paranoia in the UK, created by shows like How Clean Is Your House? and so on - the sell-by-dates are always taken as gospel, to the point where, if a pint of milk is a day older than its SBD, its immediately disposed of as dangerously contaminated. This concept needs to change as well.
    kristianbrodie
    1 response to this
  • Wow. I'm impressed that a major politician would articulate such a practical and effective environmental solution. We've become so used to a culture of easy disposal, most people don't even consider the effects of their own food waste.
    Paul_Flynn
  • Now Gordon Brown needs to back up his words with some actions, time to regulate the supermarkets and encourage homegrown produce.

    His re-introduction this year of Cookery classes in UK schools is a great help to teach people how to use up leftovers.
    hereandnow
  • Remember it's not only the food that's being thrown away, but the packaging, the pollution and traffic that's being caused in transport, refrigeration, the lives of battery farmed chickens living in appalling conditions...

    ...all just to end up in the rubbish and not even eaten.

    Finally a good move on Mr. Brown's part.
    dandrews1969
  • what happened to the food crisis from last week?
    diode
  • well at least someones eating good food
    fairchild7
  • at least someone's eating good
    fairchild7
  • one day the world will be efficient.....
    joshua2310

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