Nearly half of all fresh potatoes thrown away daily by UK households
Nearly half of the edible fresh potatoes bought by UK householders each day are thrown away - 5.8 million of them per day, and at a “staggering” annual cost of £230m, figures show.
The humble spud is the second most wasted food in the UK, behind bread, according to campaign material released on Wednesday. The research was offered in support of a government campaign to encourage consumers to reduce their domestic food waste.
The UK churns out 10m tonnes of food waste a year – of which 7.3m tonnes come from households. The estimated retail value of this is £13bn, and Wrap calculates that a typical family wastes £700 of food a year.
Britons to throw away £428m worth of barbecue food in August, study reveals
It’s symbolised by dismal burgers and carbonised sausages served on paper plates with a splatter of ketchup. Yet with the great British summer well under way, Britons are this month set to throw away a staggering £428m worth of barbecue food, research reveals.
In August the nation will brave the changeable weather to enjoy nearly 12m barbecues, with people on average either hosting or attending at least two of the seasonal gatherings. The new research from supermarket chain Sainsbury’s shows that hosts typically over-cater to impress friends and family, with more than half (49.2%) putting on a larger than necessary spread.
Salad leaves, burger rolls, hot dog buns, coleslaw and potato salad are the top five food items most likely to be wasted during barbecue season, the research found, amounting to £36.47 worth of food waste at each event. The total does not include drink.
Salad days soon over: consumers throw away 40% of bagged leaves
Britons throw away 40% of the bagged salad they buy every year, according to the latest data, with 37,000 tonnes – the equivalent of 178m bags – going uneaten every year.
UK throwing away £13bn of food each year, latest figures show
An estimated 7.3m tonnes of household food waste was thrown away in 2015 – up from 7m tonnes in 2012.
UK households binned £13bn worth of food in 2015 that could have been eaten, according to new figures which suggest that progress in reducing the national food waste mountain has stalled.
Of the food thrown away, 4.4m tonnes was deemed to be “avoidable” waste that was edible at some point before it was put in the bin or food waste caddy – such as bread that goes mouldy – compared with 4.2m tonnes in 2012. The rest were scraps that could not be eaten such as meat bones, eggshells, tea bags, coffee grounds, apple cores and fruit and vegetable peelings.
That meant the average UK household wasted £470 worth of food, which went in the bin when it could have been eaten. The avoidable food waste generated 19m tonnes of greenhouse gases over its lifetime – and preventing that pollution would be equivalent to taking one in four cars off UK roads, Wrap said.
Here are some possible questions:
- How much does one potato cost?
- How much does a kg of food cost?
- According to the figures in the first article, how many families are there in the UK?
- What errors/inconsistencies are there in the articles?
- How do the figures in the BBQ article fit together?
- How much does one bag of salad weigh?
- How many bags of salad are bought each year?
Sources:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/nov/08/nearly-half-of-all-fresh-potatoes-thrown-away-daily-by-uk-households
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/aug/16/britons-to-throw-away-428m-worth-of-barbecue-food-in-august-study-reveals
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/may/24/salad-days-soon-over-consumers-throw-away-40-bagged-leaves
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jan/10/uk-throwing-away-13bn-of-food-each-year-latest-figures-show
