Leading Articles

Waste Not
We are morally diminished by our wastefulness of food
August 12 2015
It is rare to find an issue attended with so little moral ambiguity as Britains collective wastefulness with food.
According to a report published by researchers at the European Commission, Britons are some of the most
profligate consumers in Europe, needlessly discarding millions of tonnes of food each year. Tempting though
it is to frown at such decadence, slap everyone on the wrist and carry on as before, this would be unpardonably
lazy.
The study looked at six EU member states, the UK, Germany, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands and
Romania, where data on food habits were reliable. Britain wastes twice as much food per capita as any of the
others: each person needlessly throwing away about 100kg a year, and only 20 per cent of discarded food is
inedible.
Food is wasted because it is not valued sufficiently. This is partly because it is relatively cheap in Britain,
swallowing only 11 per cent of household spending as against 34 per cent in Romania. The UK also has a
cultural problem. The marketplace bombards consumers with new and enticing gastronomic offerings; most
would rather have a bite of each and consign the rest to the bin than turn down another culinary opportunity.
Britons are also too squeamish about refuse and decay. At long last the country is recycling much of its waste,
but it took years of unpopular campaigning and, eventually, the threat of penalties to get there. People wanted
to drop their waste in one place, close the lid and be done with the matter.
Now, in general, food waste goes into food bins, though people are so averse to handling a mould-speckled
cucumber those food bins are filled with fare that is perfectly edible and nourishing. This aversion is not to be
found in countries that cannot afford it.
The moral case against waste should be enough to spur action. Tired clich it may be, but it is distasteful, when
many go hungry, to abuse the privilege of plentiful food. There are other reasons to reform, too. Long before
consumption, food production involves clearing space for farmland, transport and packaging, accounting for
almost a third of CO2 emissions. This makes waste reduction an environmental imperative. That aside, the
more prudentially minded should be persuaded by the financial case. The average household could save more
than 500 a year by eating food it unnecessarily discards.
This is an unglamorous policy area. That should not deter the government from addressing it. Consumers
often do not understand the meaning of sell-by dates, expiry dates and best before dates, and so err on the side
of caution. Packaging legislation can help with this. Government can also impose waste targets on food
suppliers such as supermarkets. They should not have to, however. Supermarkets pile twice as much as they
expect to sell on to their shelves to make shoppers feel like they have walked into a culinary paradise. This is
clearly unnecessary. Supermarkets should also cut back on over-packaging; this only aggravates customers
and compounds the environmental impacts of food waste. And as some progressive supermarkets do, all
should give away whatever surplus remains.
Ultimately, each person must take responsibility for what they buy, eat and discard. Waste not, want not is
dated. Just waste not, whether there is risk of want or not.