How much food do you waste? I imagine for most people, in the current financial climate, it’s not a lot – and certainly not deliberately, writes Martin Cooper.

The Hunts Post: Martin Cooper writes on food waste this month.Martin Cooper writes on food waste this month. (Image: Martin Cooper)

However, in the UK it’s estimated that around 9.5 million tonnes are wasted each year – the highest amount in Europe.

More than three million tonnes of the food that is wasted across the food industry each year is good-to-eat when it’s discarded – that’s an estimated seven billion meals!

And with Christmas just around the corner – when 66 per cent of people admit to over-buying food and 42 millions plates of food end up in the bin – it’s only going to get worse.

Given that 8.5 million people in the UK are described as living in food poverty, that is outrageous.

This November, FareShare, the UK’s national network of charitable food redistributors, is encouraging people to sign up to their Zero Waste Challenge, aimed at reducing the amount of perfectly edible food that is wasted.

The charity is made up of 18 independent organisations who together, take good quality surplus food from right across the food industry and get it to nearly 8,500 frontline charities and community groups, including school breakfast clubs, older people’s lunch clubs, homeless shelters, and community cafes.

Every week they provide enough food to create almost a million meals for vulnerable people.

To be a Zero Hero, you have to aim for zero food waste (or as little as possible) going in the bin throughout November.

This can be done by eating anything edible and exploring new ways to use what would ordinarily be thrown away.

The challenge starts on November 1 and people are encouraged to sign up for at least two weeks – but you can take part for a few days or the whole month, and you can get sponsored to raise money for the charity at the same time too.

While the campaign aims to highlight the impact of food waste on food poverty, it also has an impact on the environment by reducing the methane released by rotting food in landfill.

So whether it’s to help those who need food in this financial crisis, to help your own purse strings or to help reduce your carbon footprint – take time this November to think about the food you could waste and find a new way of shopping and eating that can help reduce your food waste.