Love food hate waste

Resource Cumbria is calling on all Cumbrians to "love food and hate waste".

Research has revealed the shocking fact that around one third of all food bought in the UK is thrown away instead of being eaten.

The astonishing statistic follows pioneering research undertaken earlier this year by WRAP, the Waste and Resources Action Programme, which shows that for every three bags of food shopping we bring home, we effectively put one straight in the bin.

Resource Cumbria, the waste partnership between Cumbria County Council and the six district councils, is backing WRAP`s national `Love Food, Hate Waste`, campaign with a series of roadshows around the county.

Dates and venues for Christmas roadshows in Cumbria are as follows...

Friday 30th November - Kendal Farmers Market, Market Place

Saturday 1st December - Cockermouth Farmers Market, Market Place (cookery demonstration 12 - 1pm)

Thursday 6th December - Whitehaven town market, Market Place

Friday 7th December - Barrow indoor market

Wednesday 12th December (11am - 2pm) - Carlisle City centre (cookery demonstration 12 - 1pm)

Tuesday 18th December - Penrith Farmers Market, town centre (cookery demonstration 12 - 1pm)

All the roadshows are from 10am - 3pm unless otherwise stated.

Local chef John Crouch will be holding cookery displays and offering practical advice and tips on cooking at the Cockermouth, Penrith and Carlisle roadshows. John will be holding his demonstrations between 12 and 1pm. A useful and free leaflet with information on cooking the right amount to avoid waste and with tasty recipes to make with leftovers will also be available at each event.

If you are unable to attend an event where John will be present, why not download his rescue recipes anyway and have a go yourself.

Food waste is a particular problem for the environment because most of the food thrown away ends up in landfill where it produces methane, a highly potent greenhouse gas. But this is only part of the picture - all the energy used to produce, package, transport and store food is wasted if it is thrown away instead of eaten - it all adds up to at least 15 million tonnes of carbon dioxide being needlessly added to atmosphere every year.

Resource Cumbria and WRAP believe that action on food waste would deliver big environment benefits. If we could all halt the amount of potentially edible food being wasted in this way, we would make a big impact - the same as taking 1 in 5 cars off UK roads" explained Dr Liz Goodwin, WRAP Chief Executive. "At a cost of £8billion a year, it`s a serious issue that not only impacts the environment but our pockets too".

"The `Love Food, Hate Waste` campaign has been created to raise awareness of the problem and provide information on what simple steps can be taken to combat the problem, which has a significant environmental impact. "Our research showed that 90% of us are completely unaware of the amount of food we all throw away. Once attention is drawn to it however, we know that people are surprised and keen to take action" said Dr Goodwin.

For more information, campaign features and advice and ideas on preparation, storage, portioning and recipes go to lovefoodhatewaste.com