WASTE MANAGEMENT FOOD FORTHOUGHT
Allmanhall shares some helpful tips on tackling food waste to save care home operating costs, improve efficiency, and boost sustainability.
Around a third of all the food produced globally is never eaten. This means over 30% of your care home’s food budget is going straight into the bin.
Food waste is also having a real impact on climate change, contributing almost 10% of total man-made greenhouse gas emissions. It isn’t surprising then that one of the UN Sustainable Development Goals is to halve global food waste by 2030.
Cutting global food waste by half would add a fifth to the world’s total food supply. This is highly significant when facing the challenge of how to feed a growing global population, sustainably.
The UK alone throws away around 9.5m tonnes of food waste in a single year. According to WRAP, food waste generated by the hospitality and food service sector makes up 12% of the total UK food waste post-farm gate, at 1.1m tonnes every year. In fact, 75% of the food wasted could have been eaten, costing us £3.2 bn.
https://www.wrap.ngo/uk
For care home catering teams, tackling food waste helps to save costs, improve efficiency, and boost sustainability. So, what are the biggest food waste losers?
Bread is one of the most wasted items within the food-service sector. It is used throughout almost every mealtime, whether as toast for breakfast, a sandwich for lunch or a side roll during dinner. It is estimated that approximately 900,000 tonnes of bread are wasted each year, both at the production and consumer levels.
Potatoes are another culprit. Each year, around 750,000 tonnes of potatoes are wasted, oſten due to discarded peelings. Many care home catering teams routinely remove peels for their recipes but
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www.tomorrowscare.co.uk “Over 30% of your care home’s
food budget is going straight into the bin.”
leaving them on is better for the health of your residents - the skin contains a significant amount of fibre, potassium, antioxidants, and other nutrients, making it a valuable source of nutrition.
Bananas are one of the quickest decaying fruits, with their lifespan often decreasing due to mishandling. Personal preference sees many ripe bananas being sent to recycling, despite being still perfectly edible. Over-ripe bananas can be used for banana bread, or a nutritious smoothie with other over- ripe fruit that would otherwise be thrown away.
WHAT CAN CARE HOME CATERING TEAMS DO TO REDUCE FOOD WASTE?
Avoid overbuying stock: Only purchase what you need. This is especially important for perishable products. While you may be tempted to stock up in case of delivery issues or shortages in the supply chain, overbuying ultimately leads to more food waste and therefore higher costs.
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