Did You Know?

These are 10 interesting facts from UK and international countries about food waste, if you know more shocking truths about this topic, be sure to drop it in the comment section below:

• Almost 50% of the total amount of food thrown away in the UK comes from our homes. We throw away 7 million tonnes of food and drink from our homes every year in the UK, and more than half of this is food and drink we could have eaten.

‘Binned Food’ courtesy of the food waste gallery

• The foods we waste the most are fresh vegetables and salad, drink, fresh fruit, and bakery items such as bread and cakes.

• Wasting this food costs the average household £470 a year, rising to £700 for a family with children, the equivalent of around £60 a month.

• In the UK every 1 tonne of food waste thrown away needlessly is responsible for 4.5 tonnes of CO2 emissions^, these emissions are known to be leading causes of global warming.
  

  50% of the food we waste at home, could have been eaten. Photo courtesy of professionaladvisor.com

• 1/3 of all food in the world is wasted. This 1.3 billion tons of food would be enough to feed 4 times all the hungry in the world.

• An estimated 20 to 40% of UK fruit and vegetables rejected even before they reach the shops – mostly because they do not match the supermarkets’ excessively strict cosmetic standards.
  

  Perfectly edible food wasted in a bin, near a Canterbury house. Photo by Megan Neveling

• The bread and other cereal products thrown away in UK households alone would have been enough to lift 30 million of the world’s hungry people out of malnourishment.

• The UK, US and Europe have nearly twice as much food as is required by the nutritional needs of their populations.

• here are two main reasons why we throw away good food: we cook or prepare too much or we don’t use it in time.

• In 2013, Tesco revealed it generated almost 30,000 tonnes of food waste in the first six months.

   Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN created this YouTube video, which explains how food waste damages the environment and affects everyone, including you!
  

  You can find more facts about Food Waste by clicking here and here.

  Where did these facts come from? Click the following links to find out:

  http://saynotofoodwaste.org/data/facts/

  http://www.tristramstuart.co.uk/foodwastefacts.html

  http://www.thisisrubbish.org.uk/resources/10-flooring-food-waste-facts/

  http://england.lovefoodhatewaste.com/node/2472

  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-24603008

Welcome to Food Feud

Welcome to Food Feud, a site that brings you the latest news on issues around food waste and how it can be prevented. Countrystyle recycling group statistics, show that every year in the UK, 6.7 million tonnes of food waste is disposed of in landfills, causing odour as it decomposes, attracting vermin and damaging the environment.

Food Feud logo. Created by Megan Neveling

This website emphasises the value of food and looks at food waste issues, particularity in Canterbury and surrounding areas.  These articles help educate the public and show how organisations help with prevention, why and how it causes irreversible damage to the environment and most importantly how we can prevent it at home.

Seven different areas are covered, including an about page, did you know?, recycling updates in Kent, including what areas in Kent have the worst percentage of recycling, the news, a top 5 ‘ways to prevent food waste at home and a ‘contact us’ section, for those of you who have any queries.

Food Feud focuses on providing information in a simple and straightforward manner, allowing the reader to acknowledge balanced and accurate stories before joining the discussions in the comments section and taking part in polls. Many of these stories start off as straightforward news articles, before delving into related issues in the forms of other media, such as videos and audio clips.

TOP STORIES

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Group Recycling Consultant, Eilidh Brunton.

The Food Waste Network admits: “Preventing food waste would be the equivalent of taking 1 in 4 cars off of the road”

Did you know that when food waste goes to landfill it emits methane, a powerful greenhouse gas that causes serious environmental damage?

Click here to find out how what Group Recycling Consultant, Eilidh Brunton has to say about this on-going issue and how you can help prevent it.

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Local Canterbury fruit shop, Dumbrells. Photo by Megan Neveling

In a recent campaign by British Chef Jamie Oliver, contorted but ‘perfectly edible’ fruit and vegetables that would otherwise go to waste will be sold by supermarket ASDA at discounted prices in early 2015.

Canterbury fruit shop owner, David Dumbrell has found a unique way to stop food waste at his shop. Click here to find out how and what he does.

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Homeless people outside Wilkinson in Canterbury. Photo by Megan Neveling

How do homeless residents in Canterbury find their food?

Recent reports from Canterbury homeless prevention charity ‘Catching Lives’ admit that the situation for homeless people is getting worse, and winter shelters are under more pressure than ever.

Click here to find out how these homeless residents are finding resources to food.

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Contact and Policies

POLICIES

When you are using this website, you agree to the terms and conditions stated below:

Information stored and published on Food Feud will not be shared with third-parties. This website is not in any way, responsible for content you choose to publish or for the republishing of content without permission.

Food Feud encourages readers to join in debates and discussion on the comments section below articles. However comments will be monitored and removed if seen as abusive, offensive or threatening. This comments policy is subject to change without notice.

If you wish to make a complaint, please fill out the form in the Contact section below. We will aim to contact you within 1 – 2 working days. This complaints policy is subject to change without notice.

Thank you,

Food Feud

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CONTACT

Feel strongly about food waste prevention and helping the environment? Contact the editor of Food Feud on meganneveling@yahoo.co.uk

If you wish to make a complaint, please fill out the form below and you will receive a reply between 1 – 2 working days.

Feel free to contact us and let us know your opinion on our website.

Kind regards,

Megan

Did you know?

These are 10 interesting facts from UK and international countries about food waste, if you know more shocking truths about this topic, be sure to drop it in the comment section below:

• Almost 50% of the total amount of food thrown away in the UK comes from our homes. We throw away 7 million tonnes of food and drink from our homes every year in the UK, and more than half of this is food and drink we could have eaten.

‘Binned Food’ courtesy of the food waste gallery

• The foods we waste the most are fresh vegetables and salad, drink, fresh fruit, and bakery items such as bread and cakes.

• Wasting this food costs the average household £470 a year, rising to £700 for a family with children, the equivalent of around £60 a month.

• In the UK every 1 tonne of food waste thrown away needlessly is responsible for 4.5 tonnes of CO2 emissions^, these emissions are known to be leading causes of global warming.
  

  50% of the food we waste at home, could have been eaten. Photo courtesy of professionaladvisor.com

• 1/3 of all food in the world is wasted. This 1.3 billion tons of food would be enough to feed 4 times all the hungry in the world.

• An estimated 20 to 40% of UK fruit and vegetables rejected even before they reach the shops – mostly because they do not match the supermarkets’ excessively strict cosmetic standards.
  

  Perfectly edible food wasted in a bin, near a Canterbury house. Photo by Megan Neveling

• The bread and other cereal products thrown away in UK households alone would have been enough to lift 30 million of the world’s hungry people out of malnourishment.

• The UK, US and Europe have nearly twice as much food as is required by the nutritional needs of their populations.

• here are two main reasons why we throw away good food: we cook or prepare too much or we don’t use it in time.

• In 2013, Tesco revealed it generated almost 30,000 tonnes of food waste in the first six months.

   Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN created this YouTube video, which explains how food waste damages the environment and affects everyone, including you!
  

  You can find more facts about Food Waste by clicking here and here.

  Where did these facts come from? Click the following links to find out:

  http://saynotofoodwaste.org/data/facts/

  http://www.tristramstuart.co.uk/foodwastefacts.html

  http://www.thisisrubbish.org.uk/resources/10-flooring-food-waste-facts/

  http://england.lovefoodhatewaste.com/node/2472

  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-24603008

Recycling in Kent

Welcome to the Recycling page, this area of Food Feud focuses on why food and household waste recycling in Kent is important.

Courtesy of DEFRA statistics, these percentages show that Ashford was expected to improve recycling to 37.4% in 2014-15

Every month, the average British family throws away the equivalent of 24 meals a month, adding up to 4.2 million tonnes of food and drink every year that could have been consumed. This means, that the average person creates nearly 215 kilograms of food waste. Out of this, an estimated 177 million tonnes goes to our landfills.

Not only does this waste attract vermin, it also emits odours and liquids that are toxic to the environment. The methane gas generated from food waste is 21 times more potent than Carbon Dioxide.

Population Increase

Statistics from Kent County Council  show that Kent experienced the largest real and percentage increase in population between 2012 and 2013 by +13,300 people, equivalent to 0.9%. Every year thousands of people decide to relocate permanently to Kent, for various reasons. This impacts the level of recycling because more amounts of waste is created.

Figures from DEFRA statistics show that in 2011-12 the worst area in Kent for recycling was Ashford. There is no specific reason for why the percentage of people who recycle there was so low. Ashford Borough Council believe figures were “flawed” because they did not take into account that around 85% of waste generated in the town was turned into renewable energy.

Improvements

More recent statistics from 2014-2015 show that Ashford has increased its level of recycling to 37.4% with new collections systems.

Household waste in Ashford. Photo by Megan Neveling

As the DEFRA statistics show, the council were hoping to improve the percentage of they’re recycling by 37.4%, which they have achieved. The Council are constantly upgrading and creating new systems to improve the level of recycling in Kent.

Interactive Map

This map from SITA UK shows the percent of household waste sent for reuse, recycling or composting across Kent from 2013-14.  This interactive map shows that at the moment, the majority of Kent remains 40.1%-50% recycle friendly. An improvement from prior statistics, which showed Ashford in the ‘red’ zone, meaning that the county only recycled less than 30% of its waste.

Map from SITA UK shows how recycling has improved in Kent since last year

This video helps us understand why recycling is so important for everyone around the world:

This map shows the towns in Kent where recycling is most popular. The percentage of recycled household waste averages at 40.1% to 50%.

Top 5 ways you can prevent food waste at home!

Food is a valuable resource and yet in the UK around 15 million tonnes of food is thrown away every year. Almost 50% of this comes from our homes. This list is the Top 5 ways to reduce the amount of food you waste at home by Megan Neveling…

Number 1 is being smart when you purchase your weekly or monthly shop, don’t overbuy!

Shop smart: Plan a week’s worth of dinners and make a detailed shopping list to prevent overbuying. Leave a few nights free for leftovers and stick to your list. Be honest with yourself, try not to buy food that often goes unused.

Keep food visible: You’ll find that keeping food visible works wonders. That means avoiding the cluttered fridge and cabinets where items get pushed to the back as you will mostly likely forget about them. Take a tip from supermarkets: Put the newer groceries behind the older ones.

Portion carefully: Don’t dish out too much on your plate. It’s easy to take seconds, but we don’t often save what’s left on the plate. Also, today’s massive plates make a reasonable amount of food look tiny.

Always try to keep your leftovers for later, instead of throwing them away

Love your leftovers. It’s easy to keep the remains of your dinner, but that’s no help if you don’t eat them. They’re ideal lunches, and they’ll save you time and money.

Expiration isn’t always the end: Trust your senses before you rely on the package date. Sell-by dates are aimed at retailers and leave about a week for consumers to enjoy an item at home. And remember that best-by is less exact than use-by.

About

Welcome to Food Feud, my name is Megan and I am a third-year Multimedia Journalist at Canterbury Christ Church University.

This website has been created to emphasise the importance of food waste prevention and educate the public on the serious environmental consequences that is created from waste landfills. Food Feud will be assessed as part of my final grade for my degree.

Multimedia Journalism student, Megan Neveling

Globally 925 million people are undernourished and in the UK 5.8 million people are living in poverty. Wasting 7 million tonnes of food and drink from our homes every year is arguable immoral when poverty is rife. If you have strong views on any of these topics, feel free to leave a comment below any article.

Food Feud is dedicated to highlighting why food waste prevention is so important. It investigates how organisations are encouraging businesses to lower the amount of food they waste, how homeless people resort to leftovers to be fed and how people at home can cut down on the amount of produce they waste.

Check Food Feud  for the latest news and updates regarding this on-going issue. Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter or contact us by email on foodfeud@hotmail.com.