City challenged to reduce food waste.
Communities in Birmingham are being challenged by Love Food Hate Waste to make the most of their freezers – and get to know how freezing and defrosting food can help to save money and reduce food waste – at this week’s Big Freeze event in Victoria Square, Birmingham.
The latest figures reveal that wasting food costs the average Birmingham household £470 a year, rising to £700 for a family with children; the equivalent of around £60 a month2.
The Big Freeze, which takes place on Friday 16 October between 9.00 am and 4.00 pm, will provide practical advice and top tips to local people about foods that can be frozen (and how to use them) to help save money – and the environment.
There will be interactive games, giveaways and competitions – all designed to help people make the most of the freezer and enjoy mouth-watering meals made by mixing and matching frozen and fresh food.
Emma Marsh, Head of Love Food Hate Waste, said: “As we look for ways to save money on our household bills, many of us aren’t aware that food waste not only hits us in the pocket – almost £60 a month – but also has a serious impact on the environment. No good food needs to go to waste and it’s easy for us all to make a difference. Love Food Hate Waste has some great tips, recipes, tools and solutions to help you join the growing number of people across Birmingham who are reducing their food waste and saving money today.”
Hannah Gallimore, Corporate Responsibility Manager for Central England Co-operative, added: “Central England Co-operative is proud to be working in partnership with Love Food Hate Waste as part of our focus on responsible business which includes; improving waste reduction, encouraging sustainable behaviour in the environment and helping deprived communities. The Big Freeze initiative is the latest in a series of activities we’ve been involved with and really highlights that clever use of the freezer is a great way to prevent food from ending up in the bin.”
Almost 50% of the 15 million tonnes of food thrown away in the UK comes from our homes. Together we throw away seven million tonnes of it and more than half could have been eaten. Buying and then throwing away good food and drink costs us £12.5 billion a year. If we ate it, instead of wasting it, the impact on our environment would be the equivalent of taking 1 in 4 cars off the road.
Love Food Hate Waste is aiming to help the people of West Midlands know more about why throwing away good food and drink is an issue, and give them all the help they need to take simple actions at home today and start by doing one thing differently.