One of Europe\u2019s worst offenders on food waste, Britain is beginning to get its act together thanks to a surge in volunteer initiatives that help the poor as well as creating a bit of seasonal cheer.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThat\u2019s what I come out for, to have a little chat… It\u2019s not only the food,\u201d said Bassia Hamech, 76, as she was served a bowl of hot soup in a kitchen in east London run by a charity called FoodCycle.<\/p>\n
The kitchen serves up weekly vegetarian lunches to up to 50 people in Hackney, many of whom have health problems or are at risk of social isolation.<\/p>\n
One of the volunteers, artist Anne Engel, said the most generous donations come from Turkish greengrocers in the area while big supermarkets are less reliable and today gave only a bag of bread.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe get them to eat all sorts of wild and wonderful things,\u201d said Engel, who brought offerings including mangoes, mint and eggs to a kitchen overflowing with fruit and vegetables destined for scrap.<\/p>\n
Teas are swiftly handed out to volunteers and a menu created \u2014 soup, frittata and fruit salad \u2014 and the kitchen team pick out a few furry raspberries and other items which are too old to be used.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s about changing the attitudes to food. We get a lot of volunteers who are very frightened of food past its sell by date,\u201d Engel said.<\/p>\n
2016 has been a landmark year for international campaigners tackling food waste, with both Italy and France passing laws to make it easier for surplus stock to be donated rather than binned.<\/p>\n
But Britain has fallen behind its neighbours by failing to legislate on the issue, leaving community groups and new businesses to fill the gap.<\/p>\n
Britain wastes around 10 million tonnes of food a year, according to 2016 figures from the charity Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP).<\/p>\n
The EU as a whole has around 88 million tonnes of annual food waste, according to 2012 estimates.<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s \u201cWar on Waste\u201d BBC television show raised awareness among Britain\u2019s population, starting with a mountain of discarded parsnips exposed by its presenter, celebrity chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.<\/p>\n
Regular customers at the new crop of recycled food cafes and shops opening up in Britain include environmental do-gooders, as well as the poor and those just looking for some company.<\/p>\n
Even the counters of central London cafes filled with high-end coffee and calorific muffins are increasingly making way for products made from salvaged fruit.<\/p>\n
A former FoodCycle volunteer, Ben Whitehead, said he has rescued nearly 15 tonnes of fruit since first requesting surplus on a trip to his local market.<\/p>\n
\u201cI got offered 12 boxes of really amazing pineapples. I was on my bike! So they looked at me and laughed,\u201d he said of his initial encounter with the traders.<\/p>\n
After experimenting with different fruits deemed not perfect enough to make it to consumers, Whitehead set up a company in 2015 called SpareFruit that air-dries sliced apples and pears to create crisps.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you drive through the orchards you just see a carpet of fruit. Some of it we wouldn\u2019t eat, but I would say 90 percent of that fruit is perfectly edible,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Snact, a similar fruit jerky maker, got off the ground after raising \u00c2\u00a314,000 ($17,000, 17,000 euros) through crowdfunding in 2014.<\/p>\n
Both companies are hoping to further their ambitions in the new year, with plans to make it into the luxury department store Selfridges.<\/p>\n
The chance to launch in a high-end food hall shows how much British attitudes have changed, as Whitehead discovered when he asked consumers whether they would eat something that would otherwise be wasted.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone\u2019s response was, \u2018As long as it\u2019s clean and healthy, and fine to eat, why wouldn\u2019t we?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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