Last week British prime minister Boris Johnson called on his cabinet to come up with new “non-fiscal” ideas for tackling the rapidly escalating cost of living crisis (“Cabinet split over cutting food tariffs after grocery bills climb 5.9% in a year”, Report, April 27).
Here’s another idea for the prime minister — and it doesn’t have to cost him a penny: release the (much delayed) consultation for proposed regulation mandating UK businesses to publish their food waste data.
According to recent statistics, the UK food industry wastes 3.6mn tonnes of food each year that was originally intended for consumption.
Meanwhile 7mn people across the UK are struggling to put food on the table, a number that will no doubt rise as the economic storm clouds continue to gather.
Mandatory disclosure of food waste data would have a transformative impact on the volume of food redistributed across UK communities — helping it reach those people who need it, instead of ending up in the bin.
At a time when many families are struggling to afford to eat, it is simply criminal that British businesses are continuing to get away with astronomical amounts of food waste without facing any repercussions.
The redistribution of food waste alone won’t solve the UK’s food poverty crisis, but more accountability among our biggest commercial organisations would be an important and long overdue step in the right direction.
Tessa Clarke
Co-founder and Chief Executive
Olio free-sharing app
Hullavington, Wiltshire, UK