Yet more food for thought

THE time of year when people eat and drink much more than usual is upon on us.

Even in a country where a huge amount of food is wasted, countless tonnes more are thrown out around Christmas.

The recession may have slowed things, but many people still stock up before Christmas as if the shops weren’t going to open for weeks after Dec 25.

Studies show about a third of all bought food is dumped, one way or the other. It is reckoned wasted food costs the average household in Ireland between €700 and €1,000 each year.

The main foods wasted are potatoes, bread, rice, pasta, dairy products, fruit and vegetables. While exact statistics of specific foods are not available for Ireland, it has been shown in England that half of all salads, a third of all bread and a quarter of all fruit is thrown out. The cost of €1,000 per house doesn’t include charges for waste disposal, or travelling people have to do, or the extra pressure being put on landfills.

The main reasons people give for throwing food out is that it has passed its use-by date, followed by food that’s left on the plate, or is left over from cooking. The advice from the EPA and other bodies is that people should keep a record of all that they waste for a few weeks and use that information for their shopping. It’s an area where savings can surely be made.

Almost half of people buy more food than they need, a trend that hits a huge upward spiral during the festive season. In the all-consuming ‘Christmas spirit’, thoughts of diets and healthy living are cast aside in the season of over-indulgence.

Restaurants are also culpable. Even a cursory glance at plates being taken back into a restaurant or hotel kitchen will reveal the enormity of waste that goes on and you wonder where does all that food go. According to studies, Irish restaurants throw out €125m worth of uneaten food each year.

At the same time, it’s a difficult issue for restaurants to handle. Many people expect big portions and the last thing a restaurant wants to hear from a customer is that he or she left the establishment hungry. On the other hand, how many people do you see finishing their plate completely?

However, at a time when so many people will be hard-pressed to have a Christmas dinner, not to mention all the hunger in the world, surely something can be done to greatly reduce waste of food.

* See: www.stopfoodwaste.ie for more information.