Give up wasting food for Lent, campaign is urging

AS PEOPLE in South Wales prepare to ditch junk food, alcohol and cigarettes for Lent in a week’s time, a consumer charity has challenged the nation to instead go 40 days without wasting food.

The Love Food Hate Waste campaign, operated by Wrap, is encouraging people across Wales to curb their wasteful ways and avoid throwing any edible food in the bin between March 1 and April 13.

Each year, millions of people across the world give up their bad habits for 40 days leading up to Easter, and Wrap says by ditching this one, the average Welsh household could save up to £60 a month.

Caroline Hutchinson, Love Food Hate Waste’s campaign manger for Wales, said: “Our Give Up Binning Food Instead campaign encourages people to make a real difference this year.

“Rather than ditching coffee or chocolate that don’t have lasting change, people can bin their bad kitchen habits instead, saving food, money and the planet, and will also form excellent new habits.

“Love Food Hate Waste will be sharing 40 great tips and suggestions to inspire people every step of the way.”

Nearly four and a half million tonnes of food that was perfectly edible was binned by UK households in 2015, according to a report.

In the same year Wales wasted nearly 188,000 tonnes of edible food, with each person throwing away around 10 stone on their own.

Storing food incorrectly, poor meal planning and simply buying too much are just some of the reasons people throw food away.

Waste campaigners have put part of the blame on supermarkets.

They say confusing sell-by dates, which should be ignored by shoppers completely, and two-forone offers cause us to throw food away unnecessarily.

Love Food Hate Waste hopes the campaign will inspire a collective effort to reduce the amount of food people throw away, which will not just benefit our wallets, but the environment too.

Those taking part in Lent can sign up to the campaign at lovefoodhatewaste.com.

They will receive tips and recipes to help them throw less food away during the 40-day challenge.