We need to unite to reduce food loss and waste

If I asked my grandmother during her lifetime what food waste is, I doubt she would have known the term. A mere two generations before my own, and it would have been an inconceivable idea. Throw away food? The food she may have toiled the soil for, prepared, and even had to collect water from a local well to cook in was far too valuable to go to waste.

This precious resource would either be eaten by one of the many mouths around the family table, or used to feed one of the various residents of the farm: dogs, cats, hens, turkeys and pigs.

You must remember that her generation lived through the World War II era of the Emergency, when food supplies were badly squeezed.

This gave rise to rations on some of the most basic food items, including tea, sugar, butter, flour and even bread, in 1942.

The government introduced a ‘black loaf’ to conserve wheat supplies, but the high-extraction flour in this caused nutritional deficiency and was largely detested. This rationing continued long after the war, until December 17, 1951.

My mum recalls how my grandmother would cook two loaves of bread daily to feed her large family. The heel would be eaten, no crusts were cut off, and any bread too stale to serve was transformed into a bread and butter pudding.

My grandmother’s values live on in my mother today, who has an inspiring ability to make any leftovers into a feast. Growing up on a farm, spuds, meat, and vegetables were our daily dinner at 1pm sharp. Any leftover spuds were mashed into potato cakes that were then fried in butter later that day for supper. Simple and delicious, with the freshest ingredients and made with love.

I can’t help but wonder how many of us can cook from scratch anymore. 

Have Generation Z and Millenials become utterly dependent on supermarkets and takeaway convenience options, many of which are less healthy and sustainable than their homemade counterparts?

Long gone for many is the practice of eating by the season, embracing the carousel of ever-changing options that nature provides locally. You are what you eat, but I am not sure we should be palm oil, additives, emulsifiers and flavourings.

A walk down the bread aisle in any store today presents us with a bewildering set of options. Do I want sourdough? Low carb? High protein? We now have food choices that are affordable and accessible. We certainly don’t work directly for our food, nor do we see the resources required to bring our food from farm to fork. With this disconnect, our value for such a cheap, commonplace item is so low that bread tops the leaderboard for the food most frequently thrown out here in Ireland.

Food is a lot cheaper in relative terms than it was 25 years ago, and it begs the question of whether it has become so accessible that it has lost almost all of its value. 

Reducing food poverty is essential, but our appreciation for food and its true cost in terms of resources must remain.

Someone is feeling the pinch in this supply chain, and it certainly isn’t the supermarkets with three big names accounting for two-thirds of the market share. Farmers do not receive adequate remuneration for their produce and deserve more support for their increasingly challenging work that feeds us all.

With one-third of all food going to waste, we are all guilty of contributing to that figure and have a role in shrinking that number. Because a loaf of bread is not just what you see, pristinely wrapped and sliced. It’s a journey that begins in the fields, with time, energy, and water to grow the wheat. The difficult times our predecessors lived through may be long forgotten, but it is important that we continue to remember and embody their values.

As we mark the date of the International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste (IDAFLW), it’s time that we united to reduce food loss and waste.

By looking to the past, we can create a better future, connecting with our lineage through continuing values and making our mothers and grandmothers proud.