Supermarkets must accept blame for 'staggering' levels of food waste-Farron

9.03.00am GMT Tue 10th Mar 2009

UK households throw out over £10billion of food waste a year according to figures obtained through a parliamentary question by Liberal Democrat Environment Spokesperson Tim Farron MP.

According to research conducted by the Waste Resources and Action Programme, about half of the edible food waste, nearly one third was fruit and vegetables, about a fifth was bread and cakes, and other common items were uncooked meat and fish, and unwanted ready meals Most of the waste is sent to landfill where it rots, emitting the potent climate- change gas methane.

The majority of the waste comes from people "over-shopping", with people particularly tempted by the "buy one get one free" deals currently on offer. Supermarkets are increasingly trying to tempt to shoppers counting the pennies, with a number of multi-deals on items with which they have an excess of stock.

Mr Farron has called on supermarkets to drop "buy one get one free" (bogof) deals and demonstrate more responsibility for the huge amount of food waste sent to landfill every year. Tim has also reissued his call for the Government to fund capital costs for new Anaerobic Digesters so that any food that is wasted can be converted into green energy.

Commenting Mr Farron said:

"Given the current economic climate it's absolutely staggering that the UK throws away £10billion worth of food every year, but what makes matters worse is that this waste is easily avoidable.

"Supermarket deals offering two for the price of one have encouraged shoppers into bulk buying more than they need, which often means the leftovers are simply thrown away.

"Supermarket's must accept their share of the blame for such wasteful levels of over-shopping and bring an immediate end to all 'bogof' deals in their stores.

"Instead of trying to tempt shoppers with cheap 'credit-crunch' multi-deals, supermarkets should use the money they would save from scrapping these deals to cut prices across the board and help make the weekly shop cheaper for families across the UK. After all, it is not supermarkets who fund these cheap deals - it is farmers, growers and other producers who are forced to produce twice as much for the same price.

"The government must also make sure that food that is thrown away is nevertheless put to good use through renewable energy generation."

1. Link to answer given to a Parliamentary Question tabled by Mr Farron on food spoilage: http://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2009-03-02c.257430.h&s=Tim+farron#g257430.q0