Borderers encouraged to love food, hate waste
Tuesday, November 6 2007
Scottish Borders residents are being encouraged to do their bit to reduce the 15,800 tonnes of food waste generated each year across the region, by getting involved in a campaign launched by the Scottish Waste Awareness Group (SWAG).
Entitled Love Food Hate Waste, the nationwide initiative – which has the backing of leading Scottish chefs including Nick Nairn, Andrew Fairlie and Martin Wishart – was officially launched by the Scottish Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead and nutritionist and TV presenter Nell Nelson.
The initiative is based on pioneering research by the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) and was developed for Scotland by SWAG to encourage the public to be more waste aware in its attitude to food.
Focusing on four key areas – planning and preparation; storing food; recipe ideas and portioning – the centrepiece of the campaign is a consumer website www.wasteawarelovefood.org.uk which outlines the practical things people can do to avoid food waste, including advice from some of Scotland’s tops chefs and food writers.
Each year the Scottish Borders throws away around £19.5m worth of food, an average of £366 per household, with over a third of the food which households buy ending up in the bin. The Love Food Hate Waste campaign aims to raise awareness of the environmental and economic impact such food waste has, while also providing practical advice to householders about getting the most from the food they buy.
Richard Lochhead said: “The figures are staggering. Food waste makes up nearly 20 per cent of the household bin and around half of this food waste could actually have been eaten. If we cut Scotland’s food waste by half this could save around 1,456,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions – the equivalent of taking one in four cars off the road.”
Nell Nelson – food writer, nutritionist and presenter of ‘The Woman Who Ate Scotland’– added: “It’s hard to believe we are throwing out so much food in Scotland, a lot of which is still perfectly edible. I know most people don’t like wasting food but they’re often unsure what they can do to avoid it so, in that respect, the Love Food Hate Waste campaign is a fantastic idea which will help the public do its bit to deal with the problem.”
The Recycling Team at Scottish Borders Council will be active in promoting the Love Food Hate Waste message as they carry out their Waste Aware and Waste Minimisation works throughout the area. In addition, the SBC website www.scotborders.gov.uk/recycling has a link to the campaign site.
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