Topic: Great British Waste Menu

[gp.girl]

Just watched this......

Waitrose in East Grinstead got featured. Staff member had his voice disguised as he challenged the foragers!

Not that anyone around here would bin their leftovers or reject veg on cosmetic grounds  ;D ;D

[Digeroo]

Or feed the pigs,  I actually grow extra courgettes for the pigs.

Seems odd Sainsburys and Tesco sell their stuff off cheap and M&S donate theirs to charity. 

[Old Central]

Seems odd Sainsburys and Tesco sell their stuff off cheap and M&S donate theirs to charity. 

I frequently purchase the "red and white labels" in Waitrose so they do reduce prices. I suspect that all supermarkets bin a lot of food that they run out of time to discount. Interesting that only Morrisons and the Co-op turned up for lunch.

OC

[Old bird]

I am always to be found in the reduced areas!!  The thing that annoys me is that sometimes they take the stuff off the shelves and won't reduce it as it is past the sell by date - when it is obvious that there is life still left in the stuff!  Sometimes bananas and the like - now if that were me running the shop I would take them out of their wrappers and just put them up with the fresh stuff - they are perfectly OK just the date on the wrapper!

My sister is always apalled and wouldn't dream of buying the reduced stuff - she may tho' have bought exactly the same as me - but she may have bought it in the morning before it had a reduced sticker!!

'Nowt so queer as folk!

[Spudbash]

I haven't yet seen the programme, but I'm a fan of reduced stickers, too.

This is probably the spot to recount my avocado story: A few months ago, an acquaintance of mine turned up with a bag of about a dozen avocados. They had been given her by the homeless shelter where she does voluntary work. The people at the shelter had rejected the avocados as being inedible, but I could see that they were just preposterously unripe - I struggled to cut one in half, let alone spoon out the flesh.  :o

I think the avocados had been donated by Sainsbury's, but don't quote me on that. Anyway, I took another and waited a full week before sinking a knife into it: by which time it was perfectly ripe!  ;D

The supermarkets' tendency to remove perfectly fit produce from sale has robbed many consumers of the knowledge of how ripe fruit looks, smells and tastes. I'm pleased when I hear of charitable donations by the supermarkets, but when the charity sees fit to reject what it's been given, surely something is drastically awry?

Spudbash

[Dungbeetle]

I would like to add 2 comments to this debate.

Firstly, we are increasingly living  in a "blame" culture where many people like to be able to blame, closely followed by some form of complaint or litigation, someone for more or less anything. The supermarkets are therefore caught between a rock and a hard place, risk being sued for selling out of date food or chucking perfectly edible food because of the sell by date.

Secondly, changes to EU (dont you just love em!!) laws mean that over the next 2 years, supermarkets and food processors cannot send food waste to landfill and are having to find alternative solutions to out of date food.

Having said all that, I am with the majority of folks on here. Sell by dates are irrelevant, it is common sense if something is edible or not. And even if fruit or veg are a bit over ripe, they are great for making into jam or chutney!

[Spudbash]

I agree, Dungbeetle. The supermarket brands are so big that one litigant could have a disproportionate effect on their business.

I know the supermarkets have, in the past couple of years, incorporated more less-than-perfect stock into their fruit and veg lines (I lobbied two supermarket buyers to do so, myself), but I didn't know about the forthcoming changes to EU law regarding food waste. It will be interesting to see whether supermarket specifications change as a result, to cut down on waste in future.

As gardeners, we have confidence in our fruit- and veg-buying skills and it would be nice to share that knowledge with others when we can; dare I say that common sense is a little rarer that it once was.  ;D

Oh, one more thing, thank you for the opportunity to agree with a Dungbeetle! That's really cheered up my afternoon in damp Hants!  ;D

[caroline7758]

I wouldn't be surprised if the avocados were rejected as being "posh" food. When I worked on a homeless project I heard a story about York Racecourse donating a load of food to a local homeless hostel when the races were cancelled due to flooding. The residents wouldn't eat it because it wasn't what they were used to! Easy to be critical but we all know what we like! ;)

[Carol]

I was shocked at this programme showing the acres and acres of  lettuce being rejected because they were not the right shape for the supermarkets.  They were then ploughed back into the soil.  Same with tomatoes, wrong shape, blemishes etc.  wasted.  Eggs, too small not used and dumped.  What a b l u d y waste it is a sin.

I tend to visit our local M&S stores around 4pm to get the food with the yellow stickers greatly reduced in price.  I share out with  my friends what I know they like.  I appreciate buying a chicken reduced to £2 from £4 +  bring it home and pop it into the freezer until I need it. 

[gaz2000]

i watched the programme and the stuff in the bins was shocking,because it could have been put in a reduced sale

guess theres two things,the supermarkets dont wont people buying the past best items at low price and prefer them paying full price as they probably worry that no one will pay full price but have a stampeed when there reduced,and they worry about being sued,if a past best item is sold and someone becomes ill they could try to sue over it,even though its reduced in price for a reason?

think the eggs,fruit and veg not fit for supermarket would get used by caterers despite what the show says...

and the meat does get used as dog food yes,but also as human consumtion

[bazzysbarn]

We watched this and found it interesting. But surely that was fixed when they went into peoples homes? I wouldnt let someone in if they just turned up to look in my fridge!
A few weeks ago i was in my local co op and an assistant was sorting out the fruit and going to throw some bananas away. When i asked if i could have them for my chicks she said she couldnt give them to me as she had to throw them out but if i went to the bin i could have them!!
I went round the back of the store, she put them in the bin then i took them out.  The chicks had some i so did i to make banana bread :D

[powerspade]

I never waste anything. I have lettuce running to seed which I shall harvest today and will become "Lettuce Wine" All my surplus veg either ends up as Wine or I give it away to fellow OAP`s. Last night I had for my dinner some chicken portions in Red Wine Sauce (5 Years out of day) still tasted Yum Yum. The oldest thing I have ever eaten was a tin of Bacon which I found at the back of my Mans larder when I cleared out her home after her passing. The Bacon was bought during the last war, the only probelm with it was that it fell apart during cooking and tasted a bit salty. I never go by the date on the packet or tin as most of the information is for supermarkets and not for consumers. My family have been in the food trade for over 100 years and the waste going on at the moment is criminal 

[Mrs Gumboot]

I have had a constant battle with the husband over the last couple of years to try and stop him either a) eating a whole block of perfectly good cheese or b) throwing away perfectly good veg because of the date on the label. If it's not furry or smells funny it's fine. Veg can be thrown into a soup even if it bends. Anything not fit for soup goes to the guinea pigs.

Like nothing more than rummaging in the yellow label section. At the very least you get stuff when it's nearer ripe. Was looking for pineapple in the supermarket last week to go on the bbq and the ones on the shelf were nowhere near ripe. Luckily I found a whole pile in the reduced section which were perfect, and half price to boot.

We really have lost touch as a nation with what fruit and veg is supposed to look like when it's ready. Was at the pick your own last year & had to give a group instructions as to how to tell when raspberrys are ready. They had no idea what they were looking for.

Didn't see the programme and it's probably a good job. These sort of things usually result in the husband trying to turn the telly off before I throw something through it   ;D

[galina]

I was shocked at this programme showing the acres and acres of  lettuce being rejected because they were not the right shape for the supermarkets.  They were then ploughed back into the soil.  Same with tomatoes, wrong shape, blemishes etc.  wasted.  Eggs, too small not used and dumped.  What a b l u d y waste it is a sin.

This made me slightly queasy too.  What's wrong with selling seconds?  B quality, just as tasty, but cheaper?  This is good food.  Can anybody come to these growers and ask to take stuff off their hands. 

The eggs were particularly surprising.  After all, quails eggs are an expensive luxury (never had any) and small chicken eggs can't be sold?  Who says?

On a low income it is hard to afford fresh fruit and veg.  It is a scandal that the second quality produce isn't  sold cheaply or given away!  The nation's health would be better for it.

[PurpleHeather]

The Freegans (those who live from supermarket and high street shop bins) have been complaining for quite some time that the supermarkets have started locking their bins  to stop people taking stuff.  It was perfectly legal to take something which had been thrown away, but these large companies have  got over it by keeping their 'waste' secure so that it can not be retrieved without the freegan either causing criminal damage, breaking and entering or trespassing.

A lot of supermarkets, (not all)  have stopped selling loose items. So a single person can not always buy one onion, a carrot, two tomatoes or even a single piece of meat. In fact they want us to buy too much,  throw part of the packet away then buy some more.

I have seen those tiny tins of things like baked beans and peas on sale for more than the same product in a full sized tin.

It is, sometimes, cheaper to throw away and waste.