This week, IoMFoE’s secretary Cat Turner looks forward to a visit from internationally-renowned author on food waste, Tristram Stuart
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Did you know that all the world’s nearly one billion hungry people could be lifted out of malnourishment on less than a quarter of the food that is wasted in the US, UK and Europe?
That’s what author Tristram Stuart has found, in his in-depth and pretty merciless investigation of our global (and UK) food system.
So when you hear the question ‘how will we feed nine billion people’ it’s good to know that with a little effort and creative thinking, the answers are surely within reach.
The UK, US and Europe have nearly twice as much food as is required by the nutritional needs of their populations.
Up to half of it’s actually wasted ‘between the farm and the fork’ – that is, before it even gets to your plate.
And if crops wastefully fed to livestock (instead of people) are included, European countries have more than three times the food than they need, while the US has around four times more.
Further, up to three quarters the nutritional value of that food is often lost before it even reaches your mouth.
In the UK (and presumably here in the Isle of Man) households waste around 20 per cent of all the food they buy.
This is staggering when you remember the financial pressures we’re all under.
But the good news is that this suggests a reduction on some earlier measures – we’re improving, albeit there’s some way to go!
Tristram Stuart is the author of a truly terrific book ‘Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal’, and an experienced and lively speaker, having made numerous appearences on TV, radio and in the press.
He’s recognised the world over for his ground-breaking investigations into what really happens at the level of producers, retailers and householders – and why a rethink is in order.
Manx charity Zero Waste Mann is delighted to be bringing him to the island to give a free public talk on the issues, and share with us ideas for preventing waste, saving money, cutting food-related carbon emissions and having fun all at the same time.
Zero Waste Mann is a locally-registered charity with a focus on reducing waste and promoting reuse and recycling, with the aim of benefitting the environment and those of us who live on this lovely island.
If you’re not a member, please feel free to contact us at the Green Centre in Douglas, near to the Iceland supermarket entrance – we’re open 10am to 2pm on a Thursday, and 10am to 4pm on Saturdays.
The event’s taking place on Monday, April 14, with a public talk at Keyll Darree, the training centre next to Nobles Hospital (doors open 7pm, presentation begins 7.30pm) – there’s ample parking, and better yet there are frequent buses to and from the venue.
It’s free to attend, there’ll be tea and coffee, and no doubt lively discussion of local initiatives we could take here on the island to prevent waste, save money, help local producers and the community, improve our carbon footprint and generally eat better into the bargain.
Ideas we’ve already been kicking around in the Green Centre include schemes to ensure supermarket and retailer overstocks get used by those in need, the facility for foodbanks to benefit from fresh produce that’s past its sell-by date, and ways in which groups of neighbours can co-shop to prevent single-person households struggling with family-sized packaging.
Please join us for what promises to be a shocking, but ultimately empowering, discussion of how we can feed ourselves and our families better, more cheaply and perhaps in more fun ways – and at the same time benefitting people and the environment elsewhere in the world.
How great would that be?