WRAP Combats Food Waste at BBC Good Food Show
The “Love Food Hate Waste” campaign comes to the BBC Good Food Show in Birmingham this week to meet the public and raise awareness of the huge issue of food waste.
This will be the first opportunity for people to talk to the ‘Love Food Hate Waste’ team from WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme), since they launched their campaign on 1 November.
The new Government backed campaign revealed we are throwing away a staggering third of the food we buy in the UK – most of which could have been eaten. This statistic follows pioneering research undertaken by WRAP which shows that the equivalent of one in every three bags of food shopping we bring home, effectively goes straight in the bin.
“We are looking forward to meeting everyone at the show, especially at this time of year, when we’re all thinking more about the meals we’re preparing over Christmas, and how many people we need to cater for” explains Julia Falcon, Love Food Hate Waste Project Manager.
“People tend to find it tricky cooking the right amount of food for their guests, and this is where we can help – we’ve got some great tips on portions, and also how to make the most out of the food we buy for the festive season.”
The Love Food Hate Waste team are encouraging the public to join in the campaign, and share their ideas. Visitors to the stand can add a favourite tip on reducing food waste, at the ‘Add your Voice’ video booth, or try out the live website www.lovefoodhatewaste.com at stand H60.
WRAP will be joined by members of The Women’s Institute, who have a vast knowledge of food, planning and cookery expertise. With support from WRAP they will be launching a community project called ‘Love Food Champions’ early in the New Year. The project will involve local members offering practical advice and tips to families, across the country.
“WI members have a vast amount of experience when it comes to food preservation and making sure nothing goes to waste. We want to share this knowledge with others and are excited to be undertaking a project that will help others in our communities to save money and prevent unnecessary waste” says Fay Mansell, NFWI Chair.
Editor's notes:
Key facts:
- In the UK we are throwing away one third of the food we buy. That’s like one in three bagfuls of food shopping going straight in the bin.
- We throw away 6.7 million tonnes of food each year in the UK, when most of this food could have been eaten. (Its not just peelings and bones –its good food).That’s equivalent to filling Wembley Stadium with food waste 8 times over!
- In terms of environmental impact – producing, storing and getting the food to our homes uses a lot of energy. If we stopped wasting all this good food (food which could have been eaten), it would save the equivalent of at least 15 million tonnes of carbon dioxide. That’s like taking 1 in 5 cars off UK roads.
- Most of this food reaches landfill sites where it emits methane, a powerful greenhouse gas.
- High economic cost - £8bn worth of food thrown out. That’s the cost to our pockets as consumers. UK householders are throwing out on average £400/year.
- We throw food out for two main reasons: we cook or prepare too much; and we let food go off.
- 90% of people unaware we waste so much food. But when we tested this with a food diary, most people wanted to take action – that’s why WRAP has launched a brand new campaign to help.
- For more information on the Love Food Hate Waste campaign, visit: www.lovefoodhatewaste.com
- Key findings of our recent research on the nature, scale and causes of household food waste can be found at: http://www.wrap.org.uk/retail/food_waste/index.html
- WRAP works in partnership to encourage and enable businesses and consumers to be more efficient in their use of materials and recycle more things more often. This helps to minimise landfill, reduce carbon emissions and improve our environment.
- Established as a not-for-profit company in 2000, WRAP is backed by Government funding from Defra and the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
- Working in seven key areas (Construction, Retail, Manufacturing, Organics, Business Growth, Behavioural Change, and Local Authority Support), WRAP’s work focuses on market development and support to drive forward recycling and materials resource efficiency within these sectors, as well as wider communications and awareness activities including the multi-media national Recycle Now campaign for England.
- More information on all of WRAP's programmes can be found on www.wrap.org.uk
- The Women’s Institute is the largest women’s organisation in the UK with more than 211,000 members in 6,800 WIs. The charity campaigns on issues that matter to women and their communities from children’s diets and human trafficking to healthy eating and the environment.
Susan Nisbet
PR Manager, WRAP Press Office
Tel: 01295 819695 / 01295 819677
press.office@wrap.org.uk
Viki Coppin / Nicola O'Driscoll
WRAP Press Office
Tel: 01295 819695 / 01295 819677
press.office@wrap.org.uk
