Beware of UFOs, not in the skies, but in the kitchen

ANow, a Masterchef host is asking people to look out for UFOs … but not in the night sky. Instead, these unidentified frozen objects are turning up in freezers across the land.

Gregg Wallace wants us to give them the cold shoulder, thanks to Food Waste Action Week, which runs until Sunday.

The aim is to raise people’s awareness of the huge impact of household food waste on climate change, with a particular attention to the UFOs that get stuck in our freezer and never find their way on to our plates.

With only around one-in-three people in the UK seeing a clear link between wasting food and climate change, Gregg has been working with Love Food Hate Waste to create a food waste installation to show the scale of the issue.

He said: “No one hates seeing good food go to waste more than I do, and often it’s simple changes in how we store food that make the biggest difference. That’s why I’m delighted to support this year’s Food Waste Action Week and Love Food Hate Waste.

“The fact is, we are all responsible for the vast majority of food waste that happens in the UK – 70% – so we really need to be part of the solution for the sake of the planet.

“And with food prices going up and other pressures on disposable income, the savings you’ll make to the family budget by wasting less food are significant.”

As a nation, we throw away 6.6 million tonnes of household food waste a year in the UK. This food waste is responsible for nearly 25 million tonnes of CO2 emissions, equivalent to 5.4% of the UK’s territorial emissions.

The majority, 4.5 million tonnes is food that could have been eaten and is worth approximately £14 billion (or £60 a month an average family with two children).

It requires an area almost the size of Wales to produce all the food and drink currently wasted in the UK.

Love Food Hate Waste is keen to show that used properly, the freezer is the king of the kitchen. In fact, freezing and defrosting just three key meat items that are commonly not used in time (fresh chicken, bacon, and sausages) could reduce waste of those items by as much as 15,000 tonnes per annum.

And, when it comes to defrosting, busy households can avoid a lengthy overnight defrost by using their microwave instead – as people use a toaster to defrost sliced bread from the freezer.

Sarah Clayton, Love Food Hate Waste, “Getting to grips with freezing and defrosting are big factors in preventing food from going to waste at home. At a time of rising food prices alongside huge public concern about climate change, tackling food waste at home is one way we can all make a difference and save money.

“For the average family with children, the cost of binning food can be more than £700 per year.

“So, Food Waste Action Week is all about avoiding those UFOs and being savvy in how we store but then use our food.”