As much as half of all food produced in the world– amounting to 2bn tonnes worth - ends up as waste, a new report has claimed.
The UK’s Institution of Mechnical Engineers (IME) blames the “staggering” figure on strict sell-by dates, buy-one-get-one-free offers and consumers’ demand for 'aesthetically pleasing food’.
The study found that up to 30% of the UK’s vegetable crops are not harvested because of their physical appearance.
Just last month we told you how we'd be seeing more "ugly" veg in our supermarkets after stores agreed to stock produce that didn't meet our usual visual standards.
The report, Global Food; Waste Not, Want Not, found between 30% and 50% of the 4bn tonnes of food produced around the world each year is thrown away.
The United Nations predicts by 2075 there will be an extra 3bn mouths to feed as the population swells to 9.5bn.
Here at Taste we want to know - Are you mindful about the amount of food you put in the bin? Do we worry too much about using food past its sell-by dates? Are supermarkets to blame by encouraging us to buy more food than we need with BOGOF offers? Or are we guilty of buying more food than we can eat?
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