Results tagged “Quakers” from Birmingham Mail - Lighter Footprints

In my family, wasting food is unacceptable. This is not new: my mother would not tolerate wasted food since, when she was a child in Germany during World War 1, she was malnourished. Fortunately, Quakers provided a Soup Kitchen where she lived, so she survived.

The need to avoid food waste is now recognised, but one third of the food we buy is still thrown away - and only two thirds of fruit and vegetables that are grown in the UK reach the shops in the first place. One third of the harvest is wasted either because it is not up to the supermarkets' standard or because it is in excess of supermarkets' need during a good harvest.

On Farming Today today (October 31st) we were told that, in the UK, 4.4 million apples and 5.1 million potatoes are thrown away every day.

A few Local Authorities put this waste food to good use. On Farming Today we were told about Wychavon District Council which collects food waste, takes it to a composting plant and then spreads it on farmland as a soil improver.

Hilary Benn tells us that "... if all the food and other organic waste that the UK produces could be harnessed ... it could provide enough heat and energy to run over two million homes."

In Birmingham we can put waste food in our bins and it is taken to the Tyseley Energy from Waste plant, along with other rubbish that cannot be recycled.

Some of us prefer to keep our dustbins odourless and prefer to compost food waste - but rats can be a real problem if we add food to garden waste in our traditional compost heaps.

I am familiar with two solutions:
We have a Green Cone in our garden.

An alternative is Bokashi, which is recommended by Lynne Jones MP.

Check the websites for explanations of their merits and details of the costs.