Thank you for contacting me about food waste and the cost of living crisis.
I am aware of FareShare’s Campaign and appreciate your concerns about the increased pressures on living costs, including energy costs and the price of food. The affordability of food is a serious issue and everyone has a right to nutritious and adequate food supply. I would like to assure you that this is an issue that my ministerial colleagues and I take extremely seriously.
Like you, I do not want to see good food go to waste. Food waste is one of the biggest contributors to climate change and 70 per cent of UK food waste occurs in our homes. The majority of this is food that could have been eaten and is worth approximately £14 billion. I am aware that milk, potatoes and bread are the most commonly wasted foods.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is investing £2.6 million this year to combat food waste. This funding supports the Courtauld 2030 Commitment, a voluntary agreement with the food industry with a target to halve food waste by 2030.
Ministers support consumer campaigns delivered by the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) to reduce and prevent food waste. These include Love Food Hate Waste, which helps citizens reduce their food waste and make the connection with climate change.
Further, businesses are required to follow the food and drink waste hierarchy. This lays out a prioritised list of options to reduce waste. From preventing surplus and waste arising in the first place, to redistribution to charities and commercial redistributors, followed by sending to animal feed. Businesses are helped through following the Food Waste Reduction Roadmap, led by WRAP. This sets out a plan for businesses to reduce food waste and increase redistribution through a Target, Measure and Act approach. By measuring and acting on waste, businesses can take targeted action and more surplus will be redistributed.
The Government recently consulted on options to improve the reporting of surplus and waste by large food businesses in England. This consultation has now closed and I look forward to reading the Government’s response in due course.
Finally, nearly £13 million has been awarded to over 250 redistribution organisations across the country since 2018 for the provision of warehousing, vehicles, fridges and freezers. Ministers believe that these projects will continue to reduce food waste and deliver safe discounted food.