Stop Food Waste Week campaign underway

The Environmental Protection Agency is leading a National Stop Food Waste Week campaign to highlight issues and raise awareness on food waste, from June 12th-19th. Globally, one third of the food produced in the world for human consumption is lost or wasted and every year people in Ireland waste over one million tonnes of food. The campaign aims to motivate people across Ireland to make real changes in how they use the food they buy.

 

Laura Burke, Director General, EPA said: "It takes a lot of resources to put food on our tables. Growing, processing, transport and storage all use massive amounts of energy and water, along with packaging, fertilisers and machinery. This activity generates greenhouses gases which drive climate change, so it is important that we value and carefully use the food we produce. Many of us would like to take action on climate change, but sometimes it’s hard to know where to start. Reducing food waste contributes to lowering our carbon footprint, and we can achieve this through some surprisingly simple actions."
 

Information on stopping food waste at home can be found at www.stopfoodwaste.ie. For Stop Food Waste week, because the food people buy is not just consumed at home, the EPA is encouraging businesses and employees to target food waste at work. Stop Food Waste’s top tips to reduce food waste in the workplace are:

• Have sharing shelves in the canteen and fridge and let everyone know that food left there is fair game.

• Events with catering often produce large amounts of food waste. Try a slight under-order; and share any leftovers with colleagues.

• Store unused food properly for future use, and don’t leave food forgotten in the fridge over the weekend.

 

To take part in raising awareness, the EPA is inviting businesses around Ireland to sign-up as supporters of Stop Food Waste week and receive posters, daily tips and a chance to win free Stop Food Waste workplace training.