Christmas food waste: Over 4 million festive dinners are thrown away each year
Last year, Britons wasted over four million Christmas dinners.
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.What does Christmas mean to you? Dinner tables full of food? Turkeys, mince pies, puddings – all set with a Christmas tree in the background. It’s a common image this time of year; but it often ends in huge amounts of food being wasted.
Last year, 4.2 million Christmas dinners were wasted across the United Kingdom, according to Unilever. The figure is the equivalent to 263,000 turkeys; 7.5 million mince pies; 740,000 slices of Christmas pudding; 17.2 million Brussels sprouts; 11.9 million carrots and 11.3 million roast potatoes.
Each host spends an average of £112 on food alone, which amounts to £64 million of squandered food each Christmas.
We asked members of the public in south London's Brixton Village about food waste. Most admitted they cook too much because they were concerned it would not be enough for the entire family, and ended up wasting food.
Ilana Taub and Michael Minch-Dixon are among those who have tried to tackle food waste, and have created Snact, a company that makes fruit jerky snacks from surplus fruit which they buy directly from British farmers.
Ilana told The Independent: “In the UK, 50 per cent of the food is wasted at a home level and there is a lot we can all do to reduce food waste at home: like buying the right amounts; preserving; making smoothies or chutneys.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments