Food should not be thrown away

Throwing away food is an ethical problem, Source: Irochka - fotolia.com

We live in an affluent, throw-away society. According to estimates by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), consumers in industrialised countries throw away more than 220 million tonnes of food every year. In Germany alone, 20 million tonnes of food end up in the bin every year. In view of the hunger in the world, the rising prices for foodstuffs all over the world and the impact on the environment, Federal Minister Aigner has called for a change in our way of thinking in this regard: "Foodstuffs are more valuable than their price tag would suggest. We should be more aware in the way we live, the savouring of our food, and the foods we choose to eat and buy."

This is what you can do:

Plan what you want to buy!
What food do I still have? Which products will go off soon and should be eaten quickly? Are visitors coming or will most of the family be out for much of the week? Wisely planning what you want to buy and avoiding bad buys is not difficult if you draw up a list.

Check the shelf life!
Most products have a best-before date but are in some cases still edible without risk long after this date has passed. Examine the product carefully! Is there an unusual smell? Is the food mouldy? If so, throw it in the bin! Your eyes, nose and tongue are the best inspectors.

Some highly perishable animal products have an eat-by date. You should make sure you are careful to stick to this date!

Shop wisely for bargains!
Family-size servings and ultra-large packets attract customers with cheap prices, but they may still, on balance, be expensive if some of the food ultimately ends up in the bin. Single-person households, in particular, can avoid food waste by only buying small portions.

Store food properly!
Food needs to be properly stored in order to maintain its quality for as long as possible.

Use leftovers to create delicious meals!
Sometimes serving sizes are difficult to estimate and there is food left over. But even small quantities are worth storing or freezing. Almost any leftovers can be turned into something new if you use your imagination and enjoy cooking.

Source: aid

A comprehensive approach to preventing food waste

Avoidable waste arises along the entire value-added chain on varying scales, ranging from agricultural production, food processing and retailing at one end of the chain, to the hotel and restaurant industry and private households at the other. There is still room for improvement in the recycling sector, too. Where food waste is unavoidable, for reasons of hygiene for instance or because food, such as banana skins, must be thrown away, it should be sensibly recycled, e.g. via biowaste recycling (biogas, compost). There are a number of new avenues that can be pursued in this regard, including bioenergy production.

Study on food waste in Germany

On 13 March 2012 Federal Consumer Protection Minister Ilse Aigner presented a recent study on food waste in Germany. The study, which was carried out by the University of Stuttgart, revealed that industry, trade, large-scale consumers and private households throw away almost eleven million tonnes of food per year. According to the study, the majority (61 percent) of this food waste comes from private households, followed by approx. 17 percent each from large-scale consumers, such as restaurants and canteens, and industry.

Private households throw away about 6.7 million tonnes of food every year, according to the study. The average German throws away 81.6 kg of food per year. 65 percent of this food waste could be either partially or completely avoided. The value of the avoidable food waste per capita is estimated at € 235 per year. For an average household of four, this adds up to food waste worth about € 940. Germany-wide, the avoidable waste costs up to € 21.6 billion per year. The most common foods to end up in the bin are fruit and vegetables – they make up 44 percent of all avoidable food waste in private households.