With vast amounts of food set to be consumed over the festive period, an organisation is reminding of the need to control the amount that is needlessly thrown away.
Don’t Get Wasted 2020 is a campaign being run by online surplus food and drink retailer, Approved Food, designed to raise awareness of the shocking amount of food needlessly thrown away over the festive season.
At this time of year, over-indulgence is often the order of the day and with this comes the urge to buy far more food and drink than you actually need. But when you consider that every year in the UK, five million Christmas puddings, two million turkeys and 74 million mince pies go to waste – not to mention huge quantities of vegetables, fruit and snacks – it’s clear that action must be taken.
And while some will cheerfully throw perfectly edible food in the bin just because it has gone beyond its best before date, sadly there are families in need who will be turning to a food bank this festive season. The UK’s biggest food bank network, the Trussell Trust, estimates that destitution rates could double by December as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic. It predicts at least 670,000 more people will reach a level of poverty that leaves them unable to meet basic needs such as food, shelter or clothing if support provided during the crisis to low income households is withdrawn.
So far this year, Barnsley-based Approved Food has donated around 30,000 items to good causes that make sure people – and animals – in need don’t go hungry. As part of the campaign, Approved Food is launching an online quiz so that you can test you knowledge about food waste – go to https://store.approvedfood.co.uk/blog/dont-get-wasted-christmas-quiz/ to play.
Approved Food MD, Andy Needham, commented: “The aim is to educate people about what ‘best before’ on food labels actually means, while doing all we can to help feed those in need. The amount of food that goes to waste every year is shocking but at Christmas, it’s even worse. It’s as though people’s planning and common sense go out of the window completely. The issue of food waste is something we are addressing in two ways – making people aware of what food labelling really means while ensuring charities that help feed those in need have plenty of stock on their shelves.”
