Europeans Waste a Third of Their Food

It would be rather typical if I wrote that in many African countries, people are starving to death. It would also be typical if I say that we don’t have to travel this far to spot a pathetic image of someone searching in rubbish bins late in the evening. Or people who are begging around in the streets for few coins to buy a sandwich. 

It is been discovered that Europeans waste a third of the food they shop -this food is bought every week in the huge food stores. Supermarket trolleys are full with varied items awaiting to go through the pay point and a great deal of this food bought will definitely travel from the supermarket freezers to the home ones. Then, it will end up in the rubbish bins without being touched.

Am I exaggerating? Sure am I not! I have seen this way too often in the same way I have watched someone searching in bins in a dark and cold evening. This is a urban image as well as people sleeping in the streets -in dark corners and as comfortable and sheltered as they can be while other people pass them by.

In the European Commission, they have discussed about this issue and they have put it forward into the European Parliament. The issue was dispatched it in mere 20 minutes of a discussion with few speeches from the different countries and the Chamber was almost empty.

For the parliamentary members and these of the European Commission, it seems that the most serious problem is that most Europeans haven’t understood the sell by labels and they are going to introduce a second one on every item on display. 

Is it really a matter of different labels to tell consumers when and how they should use what they buy in bulks?

This waste of food started with the trend to shop every weekend for the whole week or month in big supermarkets as shoppers claim, because they have to work or they are way too busy during the week to stop for shopping. This should make sense, but what it doesn’t is over shopping for things that will end up in the bin untouched. It is outrageous.

Instead of introducing a second sell by label, what the European Commission should launch is a campaign to educate people on shopping and food habits.

- Think twice before buying.

- It may be a good supermarket offer, but do you really need this?

- Have a look on what’s in the fridge and make a sensible shopping list of what you really need and most important of all what you are going to eat in the next few days.

- A selling practice for supermarkets is to change their display of items once in a while, so, shoppers won’t go straight to the shelves where the items they usually buy and need are. One may know that sugar, eggs or milk are at a far end next to the deli counter and one walks up to them to find out that they aren’t there. Where are they, then? A shop assistant will tell that these are at the other end. By walking back, one will come across items that one won’t have written down on the shopping list, but they seem attractive and they are on offer! Let´s get a couple of the, a shopper thinks, while they try to find the new display of eggs, sugar or milk.

- Children have to be taught on this too. It isn’t reasonable to ask them what they fancy for lunch or diner. Chances are that they will ask for what you don’t have in the fridge, or you  had planned with your shopping list. They’re likely to suggest to call up to the pizza man or go to chipper shop.

Is there a need for a fancy, special bin where we can discard for food?

This is what the European Commission should focus on, instead of introducing a second sell by label on items. All what we need a bit of common sense and some education on food shopping and eating habits and it may also save us few bob that being things the way they are they may come handy!