Hello and welcome to The Food Fad Show. Today we’re talking about food waste. Did you know that globally, we waste around one third of the food we produce. One third! Can you believe that? Here in the UK, we get rid of 7.2 million tonnes of food every year – more than half of which could be eaten safely. That’s enough food to fill Wembley Stadium … not once, but seven times per year.
{Sound of audience reaction, e.g. “Wow!”}
Host:
Joining me here in the studio we have the Taylor family. A year ago, they decided to try an experiment. They wanted to reduce the amount of food they waste every year by 50%. Tell us about your experiment, Mrs. Taylor.
Mrs. Taylor:
Well, I’ve been interested in food waste for a long time. But the more I researched …show more content…
Ugly carrots taste just as good as beautiful carrots, but in our local supermarket, they cost less than half as much. As far as I’m concerned, the uglier, the better! Also, my supermarket always lowers the price of meat or dairy products that are getting close to their best-before date. So it’s usually possible to buy food a lot more cheaply by checking those dates carefully. As long as you eat the food soon after buying it, it’s completely safe.
Host:
Right. So your main goal was to save money, then? Mr. Taylor?
Mr. Taylor:
No, it’s not really about the money: food production has a massive impact on the environment: first to produce the food and distribute it, and then to get rid of any waste. I always thought the best way to save the planet was to reduce the amount of rubbish we throw away and to reuse and recycle as much as possible. But in fact the food itself has a much greater impact than the packaging it comes in. For example, throwing away a lettuce harms our planet 100 times more than throwing away the plastic bag.
Host {a bit sceptical}:
Really? That’s amazing. Why?
Mr. …show more content…
So half of it always went in the bin. These days, we all help ourselves to food from a serving dish in the middle of the table. It’s great because now we only take what we want – and we eat everything on our plates. Mum and dad have cut right down on the amount of food they cook. It’s much better because the less they cook, the less we waste.
Host:
OK, great. And what about leftovers?
Alison:
When we started our experiment, we had a rule that we had to eat yesterday’s leftovers before any fresh food. But it was awful, so we stopped it. I mean, yesterday’s leftovers are disgusting! Who wants to eat those? But now we use those leftovers to make soup or a stew. It’s still a bit strange, but the longer we do it, the more normal it feels.
Host {a bit patronizingly / frustratedly when addressing Philip}
Yes, I’m sure. OK, and what about fourteen-year-old Philip Taylor? Philip? Can you put down your phone for a moment? I want to ask you a question.
Philip:
Don’t worry – I’m not playing on my phone. I wanted to show you a cool smartphone app. It helps us keep track of exactly what food we’ve got in the house – and when that food will go bad.
Host {a bit apologietic}:
Oh, right. Sorry. So … how does it work?
{Sound of audience reaction, e.g. “Wow!”}
Host:
Joining me here in the studio we have the Taylor family. A year ago, they decided to try an experiment. They wanted to reduce the amount of food they waste every year by 50%. Tell us about your experiment, Mrs. Taylor.
Mrs. Taylor:
Well, I’ve been interested in food waste for a long time. But the more I researched …show more content…
Ugly carrots taste just as good as beautiful carrots, but in our local supermarket, they cost less than half as much. As far as I’m concerned, the uglier, the better! Also, my supermarket always lowers the price of meat or dairy products that are getting close to their best-before date. So it’s usually possible to buy food a lot more cheaply by checking those dates carefully. As long as you eat the food soon after buying it, it’s completely safe.
Host:
Right. So your main goal was to save money, then? Mr. Taylor?
Mr. Taylor:
No, it’s not really about the money: food production has a massive impact on the environment: first to produce the food and distribute it, and then to get rid of any waste. I always thought the best way to save the planet was to reduce the amount of rubbish we throw away and to reuse and recycle as much as possible. But in fact the food itself has a much greater impact than the packaging it comes in. For example, throwing away a lettuce harms our planet 100 times more than throwing away the plastic bag.
Host {a bit sceptical}:
Really? That’s amazing. Why?
Mr. …show more content…
So half of it always went in the bin. These days, we all help ourselves to food from a serving dish in the middle of the table. It’s great because now we only take what we want – and we eat everything on our plates. Mum and dad have cut right down on the amount of food they cook. It’s much better because the less they cook, the less we waste.
Host:
OK, great. And what about leftovers?
Alison:
When we started our experiment, we had a rule that we had to eat yesterday’s leftovers before any fresh food. But it was awful, so we stopped it. I mean, yesterday’s leftovers are disgusting! Who wants to eat those? But now we use those leftovers to make soup or a stew. It’s still a bit strange, but the longer we do it, the more normal it feels.
Host {a bit patronizingly / frustratedly when addressing Philip}
Yes, I’m sure. OK, and what about fourteen-year-old Philip Taylor? Philip? Can you put down your phone for a moment? I want to ask you a question.
Philip:
Don’t worry – I’m not playing on my phone. I wanted to show you a cool smartphone app. It helps us keep track of exactly what food we’ve got in the house – and when that food will go bad.
Host {a bit apologietic}:
Oh, right. Sorry. So … how does it work?