Braintree District Council is supporting WRAP’s Food Waste Action Week (1st – 7th March 2021,) and urging everyone to take part and understand the true value of food.
According to WRAP research (Waste & Resources Action Programme,) the food we waste accounts for more global greenhouse gas emissions than all commercial flights in the world. The process of growing, making, distributing, storing and cooking our food uses loads of energy, fuel and water. To put it into perspective, if food waste were a country, it would have the third-biggest carbon footprint after the USA and China!
Wasting food feeds climate change and if we stopped throwing away the 710,000 tonnes of potatoes we waste every year in our homes, it could stop 330,000 tonnes of CO2e from going into the atmosphere! When we throw away food that could have been eaten we are not just wasting food but the valuable resources that went into making it including water, land and greenhouse gases.
“Everyone can make a difference,” says Councillor Wendy Schmitt, Cabinet Member for Environment and Place, “And something as small as making tasty meals to use up leftovers and encouraging friends and family to do the same, means we are all doing our part. Thirty percent of global greenhouse gases come from producing our food, so we can’t afford to waste it. The climate crisis is the most urgent challenge facing us all and together we can make a difference, but it’s time to act now!”
If you’re hungry for change and want to help our planet by making food waste a thing of the past - save the date in your diary and get involved in the Food Waste Action Week.
Visit: Love Food Hate Waste - Food Waste Action Week from Monday 1 March.