Caroline Lucas is backing a bill in Parliament today that aims to cut the ‘obscene’ amounts of food wasted in Britain. She was joined yesterday at a launch event for the Bill by Brighton’s ‘Real Junk Food Project’ – who provided MPs with a delicious meal made from food that would otherwise have gone to waste. [1]

The Bill includes provisions to enforce the food waste hierarchy (to prioritise redistribution ahead of disposal methods such as anaerobic digestion and composting), and a requirement on large supermarkets and manufacturers to publish and transparently report their food waste across the supply chain. The bill aims to both cut down food waste and also redistribute any excess food to people living in food poverty.

The UK currently produces approximately 15 million tonnes of food waste annually – and food waste in the EU is predicted to rise by up to 40% by 2020 if no action is taken. [2]

Caroline said:

“An obscene amount of food is wasted in this country – at a time when many families are struggling to get by.

“The Government must urgently act to incentivise food donation from supermarkets and other businesses right across the supply chain to ensure that surplus food reaches the people who need it most.

"I am backing the Food Waste Bill as a way of addressing the environmental and social consequences of the way we produce, consume and dispose of food. It’s time we had a national strategy to tackle the huge amount of food waste in Britain.”

Launch of new all-party group

Yesterday saw the launch of a new all-party parliamentary group on food waste. At an event launching the Food Waste Bill, which was catered for by the Brighton-based Real Junk Food Project [3], MPs from across the political spectrum came together to begin work to eradicate unnecessary food waste in Britain.

Lucas, who is a vice-chair of the new all-party parliamentary group on food waste, said:

“The Real Junk Food Project are showing the enormous potential in tackling the food waste crisis – and I’m very pleased they were able to cater for the launch of this new group. I look forward to working with colleagues from across the political spectrum, and in Brighton with groups like the Real Junk Food Project, to tackle food poverty and drastically cut the scandalous amount of food wastage we see in the UK.”

ENDS

[1] Details of the Bill: http://www.kerrymccarthymp.org/news/westminster_news/news.aspx?p=1091233 (It has been tabled by Kerry McCarthy MP)

[2] http://www.kerrymccarthymp.org/news/westminster_news/news.aspx?p=1091233

[3] http://www.realjunkfoodbrighton.co.uk/our-story/

Other links:

Fareshare Brighton: http://www.faresharebrightonandhove.org.uk/

Brighton and Hove Food Partnership: http://bhfood.org.uk/