Half of all food 'thrown away' claims report

Yes and what I also find vulgar and horrible are these food eating contests that you often see a lot in America but other places too.

Hideous people trying to cram innumerable hot dogs or pies into their mouths in a wholly grotesque manner.

thats insane the food that we throw away could save millions of people who are starving daily wowwww

Not just thrown away...

French Farmers bury thousands of tons of vegetables every year to maintain their prices at a particular level (although it might be for some other reason cant remember but its along that line of thought ie money).

In parts of Africa thousands of tons of African grown food from African farmland sits rotting at their docks because of foreign tariffs and lobbyists disallowing it to be exported, while cheap imported food comes in from America and else where and the local farmers cant sell locally since the imports are priced so low they cant compete... and the few local farmers they have talk about the fact that no one bothers to use their land for food or become farmers because there is no profit in it, which in a way makes sense.

But what doesn't is the fact that western corporations actually go to Africa and literally bribe the government officials to make this all happen. Id class that as some form of terrorism.

Most of this I learned from a particular documentary that was done about it that was excellent and if shown to as many as possible might get enough riled up to actually get something changed and ive only seen it played on TV once where i live, in a stupid 10pm slot on a fairly obscure channel. I cant remember the name of it even though ive tried to find it on the web every now and then (had a British narrator, possibly was a BBC doco).

There is no food shortage, no lack of food or growing land due to over population... its all about money, pure and simple greed.

And its also attitude, my brother in law will not touch anything if its expiry date has passed, and by this im talking next day. 10$s worth of meat that expired yesterday and looks, smells perfectly fine?.. into the bin, and the guy has the nerve to tell my sister that tends to give the old stuff to our family to eat that what we do is 'disgusting'... yet he can sit and make something called 'coca cola chicken' (chicken roasted in coca cola) for dinner and enjoy it

Although there is the reverse... my mother will often buy reduced to clear food in bulk, then simply not use it and it goes off pretty quickly resulting in wasted food and money that could have been spent on better food that would have lasted a little longer. Although with mum I think its a psychological thing, cant let a special go un-bought!

Edit:- I remember now, the french farmers bury (I believe it was tomato farmers) to maintain high government subsidies for their industry... they even go out and protest any sort of reduction in subsidies or possible import competition from outside countries (places like Africa). Scummy, really scummy. Whats a laugh is... the tomatoes if i remember rightly, are even to damn expensive for the local french people to buy!

So basically the farmers grow crops, destroy them then ask the government for handouts...

Originally posted by Kram09
Yes and what I also find vulgar and horrible are these food eating contests that you often see a lot in America but other places too.

Hideous people trying to cram innumerable hot dogs or pies into their mouths in a wholly grotesque manner.

And all they get for it is a t-shirt claiming they ate "big Berts biggest burger bite".

Those shows get me too.. It's kinda annoying to see one person eat that amount of food for fun..

Yes,I know this from experience!.

My fridge is regularly over-filled with goods taken from a dumpster at a local market which were thrown out on the expired date.

It helps that it is winter now,as far as that goes,but if you are discreet about it,you can live nearly anywhere on nearly nothing.

And in desparate times,one can hit a food pantry.

I have never been desperate,not yet,but I do keep almost all of my meager paycheck.

Henceforth to be referred to as "My Underemployment Check".

In times like these you have to be creative to survive when those who have control of resources create artificial scarcity and such,and whatnot.....

There is plenty of everything here for everybody,technological advancements have seen to that,but technological advancement has also seen to the elimination of too many jobs.

Those jobs used to provide funds for those who are now unemployed by the very technology that cost them their jobs,now they cannot afford to buy the very products they used to have a part in producing.

Don't fall for the hype,the only thing wrong here is greed,and the ignoramuses who actually believe those jobs went to China,yes,some did,but not all of them.

The only things we don't have a contrived shortage of are greed,ignorance and stupidity.

We should all be living a life of exuberant abundance,working part time at jobs we actually want to do.

Sorry,I wandered off topic a tad,as always...

Anyway.

reply to post by Extralien


Not to mention the amount of land used to raise the meat animal for those hotdogs that would be better suited to growing a far larger quantity of vegetable product... or in America the huge amount of land used to grow the grain and corn that is then used to feed the animal to make the hotdog... then again there isnt all that much 'meat' in one of those 'hotdogs'.

The whole system of food production on this planet is totally whacko.

That isn't breaking news, that's been our lifestyle for the last thirty something years! Of course all the regulations on restaurants force them to waste a lot of food, but people are doing it at home as well. Everything is disposable, from water bottles to facial tissues to clothes. When something is broken or not quite right, we throw it away and grab a fresh one. And people wonder why I am so critical of our modern society, we are literally turning the Earth into a giant dump.

Originally posted by Kram09
Yes and what I also find vulgar and horrible are these food eating contests that you often see a lot in America but other places too.

Hideous people trying to cram innumerable hot dogs or pies into their mouths in a wholly grotesque manner.

That's why "freedom" is just another empty word in this country. You are "free" to turn yourself into a disgusting hut by eating the flesh of many dead, tortured animals. However if you choose to cultivate certain plants in the privacy of your own home, you may find yourself "free" to receive a swat team that has just kicked in your door and stuck firearms in your face.

its very sad we try REALLY hard not to let any food go to waste, we give our scraps of veg/fruit to the sheep/donkeys that our neighbor has and we pet them and stuff. Like the parts that you cant eat or the skins and stuff that don't taste that good or you cant eat and cores of things.

We also dry things and are getting into canning things but we mostly rely on store bought so we dont buy large amounts of food at a time so they wont go back we shop like 2x a week.. that is good but bad i suppose since we dont keep a large supply of food

I am working on doing aquaponics though as soon as I can start with it then we will be canning and drying most things we grow that we cant eat so we can stock up on many things..

I am also learning how to make many things ourselves and how to do things naturally rather then buying them from the store.

I believe that. Even restaurants have 15% loss before they even serve anything.

I am currently working in a hospital kitchen, where we have to throw out so much perfectly good food it is unbelievable!
I started out life pretty poor and often hungry, so even though my situation is different now, I still have some of those poverty habits- like a constant desire to prevent waste (if not actually hoard it away just in case).
It is completely unacceptable.
They have to be careful because it's a hospital- the patients are often fragile and vulnerable; but I don't see why employees couldn't eat it, or w couldn't give it to a shelter or something!

It is really a pet peeve of mine- I am probably going to get fired trying to smuggle chocolate pudding and fish filets out in my pockets one day....

It seems to me, going by the majority of posts here, that we are all waging a quiet war against TPTB.

We're all trying to 'save' in some way in order to beat the man.

We get fed the idea of 'saving' money by being offered items at low prices where we can save 50 pence on an item, yet we're not really saving anything. We'll simply spend that 50 pence on something else eventually..

So, the more we try to reduce our expenditure and grow our own, preserve and store the same home grown stuff, the corporations struggle so they fiddle their prices, re-configure the government and get back what they've lost from other routes.. ie. fuel bills.

There must be a point of no return.. a point that tips the scales in our favour..but where, when and what is it that will get those scales to tip? We better ourselves, they counter attack.. a rather never ending circle which must have an end somewhere.

The gravy train must have a final destination..

Not at my house.

What little kitchen waste we have is fed to the chickens. They seem to love it.

reply to post by Wildbob77


We had chickens too.. great things dor finishing off the xcraps.. and you get a free reward too.. in the shape of an egg..

made a messof the lawn though

Hardly ever see anything like that these days in the UK, though there is one house about a mile away fromme that does have three chickens.. don't know of any others.

Too many people do not have the time or patience to look after such creatures which just so happen look after themselves.. but i think it's more to do with noise pollution that people have stopped, or been stopped, from keeping them anymore...

supermarkets win again on that one..

reply to post by Extralien


I read this report yesterday and thought 'damn, thats a huge amount of food' and I gotta wonder why their are people starving in this World??

Those Supermarkets should send their food thats about to go out of date to the Homeless shelters or onto a plane which can travel to very poor parts of the World and drop the food there.... i'm meaning food which has one day left on the date can actually be eaten 3 days or more after that date... except meats!!

I have to admit though that i'm one of those guys who prefers to sift through foods to find the best dated!! Such as Meats, Eggs, Yogurts and Bread! I also don't like the look of veg which is about to go off so avoid that or try find what looks fresh!!

reply to post by Extralien

Whatever happened to flour in bread and rolls?

That is the first ingredient in that pic you posted

And in this thread Mcdonalds bashing is funny because one of the criticisms of McDonalds food is that they don't rot or go bad.
So add preservatives so it does not go bad= wrong
having no preservatives in food that goes bad quickly = wrong

The "fussy" customers or household waste could not even begin to count for all the food that is wasted. Corporations love to blame it on the individual, but the real problem is the tonnes of good crops dumped in the sea, burned, buried, or just left to rot - all in the name of market economics.

My mother worked in the Safeway meat department for years... did you know that they die the meat bright red to make it look more appetizing to the customers ? Fresh meat actually has a slight brownish tinge to it, but people assume it should be a bright blood red.

reply to post by CranialSponge


Unfortunately meat is not the only food they add dye to. Just think of all the additives they use to extend the shelf life of food or to enhance flavor. ...And we wonder why there is so much cancer in the world. We're eating a toxic cesspool of chemicals ever time we put food in our mouths. Yummy

Originally posted by Extralien
reply to post by woodwardjnr

 

As long as it's fresh?

Irradiated Foods: How Does YOUR Colon Feel?

Food is packed in nitrogen to remove oxygen gas. This prevents bacteria from growing

Artificial food preservatives, food colors and flavor enhancers, many of these can be dangerous chemicals added to our food and are known to be linked to Hyperactivity, Attention-Deficit Disorder (ADD), Asthma, Cancer and other medical conditions.

www.traditionaloven.com...

But before food gets anywhere near those processes we have to think about what's going on at the farms.. Both natural and synthetic pesticides are used depending on produce being grown.

One of my favorite foods in the world has to be a freshly picked apple. Whether I am eating a juicy, red Gala apple, or a green, tart Granny Smith apple, my taste buds explode with the goodness of each bite. ,"Do organic foods have pesticides?" The answer is yes, but these pesticides come from natural sources, such as certain types of plants, and they do not use synthetic pesticides. Organic farmers also tend to spray less pesticides on their produce than other farmers, and the pesticides are less dangerous for the environment. Also, if a product is certified organic, it has to abide by the national standards.

insect repellent has the pesticide DEET in it.

www.nature.com...

and let's not forget the attempt5s at making food look better or fresh..

An edible coating is a thin layer that is applied on the surface of a fruit or vegetables which is consumed together with the fruit. Edible coatings are considered to be safe for human consumption. Therefore, these coatings are expected to be consumed together with the fruits. The same way the sausages are consumed with their casing.

However, it should be noted that there could be unscrupulous producers who would coat apples with petroleum-based waxes. The type of waxes applied on fruits are supposed to enforced by the state. For example, in USA, Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) oversees all the waxes that are supposed to be used. Whereas Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBs ) is the responsible body in Kenya.

www.arimifoods.com...
Someone has already mentioned in a previous post about what they do to meat..

I also recall a story from when I was at school as how bananas are picked when they're still green and put on the ships bound for the UK. during this journey, they begin to yellow and only then are they off to the shops.. (how true that is I cannot confirm..) But, it took me a holiday to find out that bananas are not truly ripe until they start to go black.. that's when they are at theor sweetest..

But who in this country would buy/sell black bananas.

Bottom line... Don't buy food at a super market. Better yet, grow your own food so you know what is in it (or on it in the case of the waxes.)

As for apples that you mention, I have a friend who is a seasonal apple picker in New Zealand. He is telling me that most every apple you find in a supermarket that comes from New Zealand is at least a YEAR old. They are stored and shipped in nitrogen containers until sold at peak prices in off seasons around the world.

When it comes to bananas, they are harvested green from the tree. If you wait for the banana to turn yellow on the tree, the seeds will be larger and too hard to eat. If you want to make your green bananas turn ripe, put the banana hands in an air tight container, separated by dry plant matter (to keep moisture down), and add a ripe fruit, like an apple, which is the "starter" to make the bananas start turning ripe. It's some enzyme I think that starts this reaction.

Also, "real" organic food tends to be much smaller in size than conventional farm raised food, FYI =)

reply to post by Philippines


Lately I have been noticing the opposite when it comes to bananas and other fruits. My pears start going bad quicker when there are bananas near them, it's odd.

I am thinking what ever country canada gets oranges from also freeze them like that. Oranges up here suck ass, they have like no flavor to them at all, even the tangerines are like that.