Food waste programme on BBC1

[CornishPisky]

Is anyone else watching this? I am HORRIFIED at what folks throw away! There is so much poverty & starvation in the world, & people are throwing away perfectly good food! We only ever throw away stuff that wouldnt be eaten, ie chicken bones, or fat off the bacon etc (good little SW girl that I am!). Everything else goes either on the compost heap or to our chickens! I use up everything that I possibly can, in any way I can. Not sure if this is because I am frugal (lol!) or because I really cannot bear to throw any foodstuffs away. Either way, the bin doesn't get any of my food...

 

[fillymum]

I am horrified by the extent of the waste. It is beyond imagination.

As a household nothing here is ever wasted. Bones become stock, veggies near the end of their life become a curry or something similar and with goats, horses, cats and dogs no one would get fat from our bins.

However it is a very interesting programme.

Here in Spain all our fruit and veg, or most of it, is national and comes in all shapes and sizes, no sizing here thank goodness and it all tastes good.

 

[Emmaline]

I agree with you. Makes me sooo sad that people are so hungry in the world and all this food being thrown away! It's partly due to the EU making all these rules and regulations about sizes etc. Makes me so mad.

 

[fillymum]

This country has a wonderful attitude to EU rules and regulations. If they like it and it suits them they do it, if they don't they bin it.........no pun intended !!

 

[*honey]

Im just watching it now on Sky+............... Its unbelieveable!! not only the stuff thats been thrown away from the supermarket and homes, but more scandalous is the amount of food that gets thrown or ploughed back in because as he just said, wonky veg!! and too small eggs and strawberries that are not the right size, madness!!
What a fab program though for highlighting this

 

[jaylou]

This has been highlighted before and the thing that gets me is this....
When did "we" decide we didn't want wonky carrots or odd shaped tomatoes or irregular sized apples etc etc?
It really annoys me. I don't give a stuff what size or shape my carrots are, just as long as they taste good and are fresh. Same goes for other veg.
Grr to whoever decided all this.

I've just returned from France and I think they must be similar to Spain in that just about everything I saw was produced there and was far from perfectly shaped.

Sometimes I don't like this country!

 

[fillymum]

This has been highlighted before and the thing that gets me is this....
When did "we" decide we didn't want wonky carrots or odd shaped tomatoes or irregular sized apples etc etc?
It really annoys me. I don't give a stuff what size or shape my carrots are, just as long as they taste good and are fresh. Same goes for other veg.
Grr to whoever decided all this.

I've just returned from France and I think they must be similar to Spain in that just about everything I saw was produced there and was far from perfectly shaped.

Sometimes I don't like this country!

Just the thing I was about to post........who asked you the great British public if you wanted uniform sized, tasteless fruit and veg............ no one.

Sis has just returned to the U.K. after enjoying the most wonderful, "misshapen "fruit and veg here. She text-ed me to say she had just bought peaches in a supermarket in her town and they were tasteless, pretty but tasteless.

The French would be out marching the streets in protest if these conditions were imposed on them.

I am sure that the fruit and veg sizes in the U.K. are EU reg. sizes but if 2 member states can ignore this bloody ridiculous ruling why not G.B.

 

[foodjunkie10]

I thought this programme was fab its a real eye opener.
Its so sad that people are starving and so much food is wasted.
My friends Mum works for a charity which assists people with emergency housing and once a week she goes to collect boxes of food that is donated from sainsburys which would normally be thrown away. it all goes to the people which the charity helps . i think its great.

 

[judimac]

There are times that I think we are the only country in the EU that conforms to it's rules.

 

[elb4160]

I watched this too, I couldnt believe the bakery throwing out topside of beef!!!

Maybe they need to stop ordering too much, even if not to reduce wasted food but to reduce wasted money!

 

[fillymum]

There are times that I think we are the only country in the EU that conforms to it's rules.

I agree with you I think, after living here for nearly 30 years, that the U.K. is the only country in the EU to conform to the rules. It took Spain 3 years to comply with the no heads, feet or giblets in and on chickens. In holiday times you could hear astounded Brits saying excitedly, " look, look that chicken still has it's head."They only complied because they could not get away with it for any longer. How many people have been killed by a chickens head or feet, or a misshapen vegetable, whose health has been put in jeopardy because a banana doesn't have the right curve. It is all bureaucratic poppycock.

I watched this too, I couldnt believe the bakery throwing out topside of beef!!!

Maybe they need to stop ordering too much, even if not to reduce wasted food but to reduce wasted money!

I could not believe it either or the ease with which the owner/manager could stand there and say he didn't think they would get through it before it's sell by dated. Bloody ridiculous I say.

 

[*honey]

Ive been ranting and raving about this to anyone and everyone this week, its just appauling!! and indeed, i dont remember when i was asked if i minded wonky veg!! And all those eggs being wasted because there too small. At work we have chickens so i often get some free eggs, of all shapes and sizes, i like having some small ones. there is many a time i'm halving a recipe for my self and the full recipe needs 1 egg, cant do half a egg really, so i use a little egg! I always though eggs came in sizes anyway?? cant they just have smaller sizes??
Anyway hope that this high profile tv program that has got everyone talking will have some impact.
I'd happily have wonky veg and small eggs and less red tomatoes for free if all there doing is putting them in the bin, it really is criminal!!!

 

[Emmaline]

I'm afraid all the shouting and stamping of feet will go unnoticed and ignored as it usually does!
How many of you saw the prog about Palm oil - VERY indigestible and that is why there is such alot of obesity -- but it's cheaper for the manufacturers.
Aspartame -- Trials were fraudulent, rats being substituted when they died.
I could add lots more, but at the end of the day it's veiwing figures that mean the most - Don't be fooled!!!

 

[donnajt]

All i can say is i have a very bruised chin, as my jaw just kept dropping and hitting the floor with disgust!

How can those food suppliers just throw the "imperfect" food? if there was an egg farm or vegetable farm near me i would happily buy "seconds" who cares if the egg is small? who cares if the courgette is the size of a marrow? its the taste that counts!

we have a local farm shop which sells eggs/fruit/veg (well everything really) but the fruit/veg are excellent value, fraction of the cost, earlier in the summer, you know the cardboard boxes that mushrooms came in you could buy one of those full of the sweetest cherry tomatoes, used to last us two weeks and saved us a fortune

in fact, must go there this week...

 

[fillymum]

I'm afraid all the shouting and stamping of feet will go unnoticed and ignored as it usually does!
How many of you saw the prog about Palm oil - VERY indigestible and that is why there is such alot of obesity -- but it's cheaper for the manufacturers.
Aspartame -- Trials were fraudulent, rats being substituted when they died.
I could add lots more, but at the end of the day it's veiwing figures that mean the most - Don't be fooled!!!

How I agree with you. It makes one wonder if "powers that be " understand the meaning of the word *democracy*.

If I was living in the UK( which I hope to be doing before to long ). I think if it were at all possible I would try and buy from farm outlets. I know we can not all do that but I really do no know the answer apart from growing as much as you can yourself, that too is totally impractical for most people.

This has been a very interesting thread to follow as we are such a diverse group of people and are all of one mind on this subject. It makes one wonder what would happen if a referendum were taken on the subject. I think we would see an almost full house in favour of these *rogue* foods.

 

[*honey]

It's the supermarkets having too much power......... we have a fruit farm up the road from where i work, the gardener at work said, that if they sold privately/gave away the fruit that had been rejected through the grading process for the supermarket, then they would cancel the contract for any fruit at all! It is the supermarket doing.!!

 

[fillymum]

That is disgraceful !!!!

 

[louisehj]

I wanted to watch this programme but missed it. Does anyone know if it is going to be repeated?

 

[*honey]

Not sure about a repeat but it is on BBC iplayer

BBC iPlayer - Great British Waste Menu

 

[cmcewn]

I'm afraid all the shouting and stamping of feet will go unnoticed and ignored as it usually does!
How many of you saw the prog about Palm oil - VERY indigestible and that is why there is such alot of obesity -- but it's cheaper for the manufacturers.
Aspartame -- Trials were fraudulent, rats being substituted when they died.
I could add lots more, but at the end of the day it's veiwing figures that mean the most - Don't be fooled!!!

Im quite worried about the Asapatame claims, I have quite a lot of the symptoms alledged to be associated with it and I drink a ton of coke zero a day. Might be time to stop.