When we have milk close to its use by date it’s used to bake a milk loaf. Slices of the delicious bread are quickly eaten. When I was kneading the dough for my recent loaf an idea struck me about reducing food waste.
The idea, which was more of a question was, could perishable food that had reached its use by date be baked or cooked into food that can be used to feed a hard pressed community? But with all ideas that seem to pop into my head it needed to be more focused.
The next step was to find out what happens to perishable food when it reaches its use by date. The best place to start was with the supermarkets who by far sell most food in the UK. I know from my regular shops that when items on a supermarket shelf get close to their use by date a yellow sticker appears and the price is dropped. This is a great time to buy the items especially if it can be baked, cooked or frozen for later use. For example vegetables that are close to their use by date can be turned into a big pot of vegetable soup that can last a few meals. But I needed to find out what they did with the perishable food that was not shifted with the yellow sticker. So I contacted all of the major supermarkets with the simple question: “what happens to perishable goods when they get close to their use by date or start to go off?”
The supermarkets replied but there was a wide range of detail which could be a few lines to several screens worth including links to their company policy. In general, the supermarkets go through various stages to reduce the amount of food waste. They have improved their stock control so that the amount of unsold food is reduced. Unfortunately, this is starting to have an impact on food banks where the amount being donated by them is dropping. Any surplus food at the distribution hubs can be donated to people in need using organisations such as FareShare. If there is perishable food on the shelves close to the use by date then a yellow sticker goes on and the price is dropped. Interestingly some supermarket will use damaged fruit and vegetables in their staff restaurant. Lidl have an initiative with their ‘too good to waste’ boxes that are sold at £1.50 and what I have seen of it is good value. Food left at this stage is donated to local causes through organisations such as the: The Trussell Trust, Food Aid Network and Feeding Britain. Other organisations used are Neighbourly and Esther Community Enterprise who distribute food along with clothing within their local communities.
Mobile phone apps such as To Good To Go take unsold food from cafes, restaurants, hotels, shops and manufacturers and distribute it through a network of volunteers. OLIO and Food Waste Heroes collect surplus food from local businesses, bring it home and list it on the OLIO app, and redistribute the food to their neighbours, who pick up the food. Finally, if there is any food left that can not be donated then the supermarkets turn it into green energy using anaerobic digestion.
So what does this all show? Supermarkets have systems and processes in place that ensure that any unsold food is being used in the best way possible and waste is minimised. As for my idea? There are already excellent organisations such as the Sunderland Community Soup Kitchen and other community kitchens that take surplus food and turn them into into meals for their local communities. Therefore the idea that I had is already in use. Oh well, back to baking bread and waiting for another idea.