Brits throw away a third of the food they buy

I suspect US figures are comparable

I live in the country so I have the advantage of chickens, dogs, and all sorts of wild critters to take care of the organic stuff I toss. Cleaning up after a meal when I visit someone in town is one of those "contrast moments" for me. They throw everything into the garbage. It causes an almost physical reaction when I see food going in the trash. I think "oh that would be good for the chickens, this for the dogs, the skunks will get that and the rest will eventually make soil..."

Don't even get me started with dumps in this country. To not allow scavenging is simply immoral. So much perfectly usable stuff is burried all the time because of some kind of "saftey" concerns...it makes me so mad. Why should perfectly good household goods or construction materials be off limits to people? So they have to go buy all new crap from China? :wtf: :mad:

It is eaten as left overs for lunch or added to soup,etc. the next day. I buy organic soup and add to it.

Sometimes we have to throw away spoiled meat I bought the previous day. I always take it back and get my money back. I figure they won't do it so often if people complain.

I asked the food store manager to have their fruit buyers sample what they sell to us. We shouldn't pay for tasteless fruit and sour apples. A peach I bought went rotten in the middle before the outside.

I have dogs, chickens, a compost pile, and a small worm farm. Not much organic gets wasted here. I too hate to see food go into the trash bin.

We don't eat very much meat, so we hardly throw anything away.

Sorry...couldn't resist.

They like the Europeans eat a lot of cold cuts and sausage. I don't like them.

"Lord, have mercy on the people in England,
for the terrible food these people must eat."

200 Motels

So growing up I'd spend lots of time visiting family in the UK. The food is actually pretty good and the beer is definitely better. This joke about British food seems to have originated in WW2 when there was war time rationing.

In any event I imagine Americans, Brits, and Canadians are all just about the same when it comes to wastefulness.

Expensive food won't get thrown away as much.

Scarce food won't get thrown away, period.

--p!

If it's food that's past the date of expiry, that may be largely due to the tendency of food packagers and grocery stores to push "economy size" purchases -- buy bigger portions, you'll use it all eventually, and save money. Only you don't end up using it all and it spoils, so it ends up wasted. The whole paradigm on which "economy of scale" is based is that mass production brings down the price per unit, even if a lot gets wasted in the process. We need to reconsider what the "price" is -- it's not just the price you pay now for the items you buy, it's also the price increase in items you have yet to buy resulting from wasteful practices, and the effects of all that extra CO2.

American corporations have pushed this trend with increasing reliance on processed food (esp. white flour) and preservatives to extend shelf life, and breeding produce for ease of mass mechanical processing and to ship well (as opposed to nutritiveness or even flavor).

Now sellers are pushing the multipurchase -- 3 for $2, 5 for $3, etc to encourage large purchases and "homogenization" of their inventories.

The effect on me, personally, is to make farmers' markets that much more attractive. Buy fresh, don't hoard.