Thousands of Londoners say ‘no’ to food waste
Trafalgar Square saw a feast of Biblical proportions yesterday as over 5000 Londoners gathered for a free dinner made from fresh produce, that was previously destined for landfills.
Tristram Stuart, organiser of Feeding the 5000, planned the event to highlight the growing problem of food wastage. He said: “Instead of doing an angry protest, we decided to have a free lunch to show people just how much food is being wasted in Britain. All of the food being served today is perfectly fine but would have ended up in the bin just because it’s not the right shape or has a mark on it.”
Londoners queued in the snow for hot vegetable curry served with bread and fruit smoothies freshly pressed by bicycle-powered smoothie-makers. Volunteers were busy handing out bags of surplus fruit, vegetables and herbs, while school chilren collected trays loaded with produce to distribute.
According to organisers, UK Households waste 25 per cent of all the food they buy and up to 40 per cent of fruit and vegetables are binned before even reaching the shops, simply because they do not match the supermarkets’ strict cosmetic standards.
Katherine Lewis, 59, who stocked up on knobbly carrots and misshapen potatoes, said: “I can’t believe that all of this food would have been thrown away. It’s shameful. I dread to think what it looks like behind supermarket bins. It’s made me think about the food that I throw out and I’ll definitely be more careful from now on.”
Any food leftover from the event was collected by the charity FareShare to be delivered to homeless shelters.
Stuart explained: “The point we’re trying to make is that there is an easy solution to the global food waste problem and that is eating and enjoying food, valuing it and recognising that it is too good to waste.”
Sarah
Giovana Zilli
Jennifer Ebert
Anika Goldhahn
RB
Mohamed Ali
It is really sad to know how much food is being thrown away here in Britain.
I used to work as a waitress for catering companies some years ago, specially over Christmas, and I was deeply shocked to learn that, after a party, many trays of untouched canapés would go straight to the bin.
Apart from me, though, no one else seemed to be astonished by that… I remember once asking if I could eat one canape, and been told by the manager, with surprise, that I wouldn’t be allowed to do that, because that “was rubbish” (!!!- Yes, I am still talking about immaculate fresh food, going from untouched trays to the rubbish bin)
I think events like this should hapen more often. Well done to Tristram and all the volunteers involved.
Yes, it’s awful how much food is wasted. You should have seen just how much food there was at the event! They had piles and piles of it – even 5000 people couldn’t finish it!
It is good though. I think it has made many people open their eyes about the food that’s thrown away.
I think giving away free food is a brilliant idea to highlight this problem and central London is the perfect place to reach out to the capital. It is so sad to see just how much perfectly good food goes to waste. But it’s great to see so many people coming together at once.