The effect of food crisis is being felt throughout the world. Jumps in food prices are very painful because we spend approximately 12.8% of our incomes on feeding ourselves. Are you amongst those who have already tried a number of ways to cut down on monthly food expenses but haven't been successful? Given below are some of the effective ways to plan and reduce your food expenses without compromising the quality.
Calculations based on waste and calorie intake suggest that the UK has access to at least double the food necessary for adequate nutrition. Since farming, retail and eating habits are probably similar throughout the developed world, this implies there is no real food crisis in terms of the amount produced, only in how it is consumed. Therefore, a better strategy must be to focus on reducing food waste rather than growing more. This would minimise the impact on the environment, reduce food expenditure, and achieve better food security with a healthier lifestyle for the population.
Don't bulk up unnecessarily- Certainly getting food items in bulk will cost less but they are not worth the discounted rate if they go waste or get spoiled owing to improper storage. You need to be careful in selecting the quantity of such food items, so as you can make the most out of such deals.Check out warehouse deals- There are some specific food items which are available at cheap rates in warehouses. You can visit a nearby warehouse once every month to get sufficient quantity to serve your family for a month. One such food item is eggs, which can be availed at cheap rates from warehouses.
Damaged packets should be re-labelled as low carbon pet food or animal feed if this doesn't endanger safety, or if this is not possible, biodegraded using composting and anaerobic digestion to produce methane for fuel and enrich agricultural soil.To avoid consumer waste, all foods should be purchasable in smaller amounts at a constant unit price and separated into compact sealable units to ensure they are kept fresh as long as possible. This would avoid excess buying which often leads to waste.Retail policies that lead to excess buying should be discouraged. These include moving items around the store and placing essentials at the rear of store to encourage coverage and residence time. Retail promotion and prominent positioning that encourages purchasing should also be reserved for sustainable products.
Skip the brand name- The store brand is less expensive and can also come from the same diary as you favorite brand. If you do not have a discount coupon against your favorite brand then it is better to go for a local brand after checking its contents and packaging.Buy skimmed milk- Skimmed milk is 10% less expensive and 5% more nutritious for you. Some people complain about its taste, you can add various artificial flavors to it in the beginning so as you can adjust to its taste.
However, are we taking a too lenient line with the food industry? The Sustainable Development Commission thinks so. It condemned targets set by WRAP as "unambitious and lacking urgency". with multi-buy promotions helping to fuel waste and obesity in Britain. Mr Lang, who is also professor of food policy at City University, London said that three years ago, the government-funded WRAP left it up to supermarkets to find voluntary "solutions to food waste" in an agreement dubbed the Courtauld Commitment. "The Government is frankly not using its leverage adequately. It really should toughen up on Courtauld, which must be enforced because this is ludicrous". An 18-month study, which found that "too many supermarket practices are still unhealthy, unjust and unsustainable", said Wrap should adopt a "more aspirational approach to reducing waste in food retail by setting longer-term targets and [supporting] a culture of zero waste".All this suggests that voluntary regulations are either ineffective or far too slow to take effect. The bottom line is that waste is endemic to contemporary economic ideology because corporate obligations require them to increase growth and profits and an effective means of achieving this is by encouraging excessive public consumption. Until these objectives are replaced with ones that are more beneficial to society than businesses, any significant progress in meeting sustainable targets without imposing strong regulations will be very limited.
Calculations based on waste and calorie intake suggest that the UK has access to at least double the food necessary for adequate nutrition. Since farming, retail and eating habits are probably similar throughout the developed world, this implies there is no real food crisis in terms of the amount produced, only in how it is consumed. Therefore, a better strategy must be to focus on reducing food waste rather than growing more. This would minimise the impact on the environment, reduce food expenditure, and achieve better food security with a healthier lifestyle for the population.
Don't bulk up unnecessarily- Certainly getting food items in bulk will cost less but they are not worth the discounted rate if they go waste or get spoiled owing to improper storage. You need to be careful in selecting the quantity of such food items, so as you can make the most out of such deals.Check out warehouse deals- There are some specific food items which are available at cheap rates in warehouses. You can visit a nearby warehouse once every month to get sufficient quantity to serve your family for a month. One such food item is eggs, which can be availed at cheap rates from warehouses.
Damaged packets should be re-labelled as low carbon pet food or animal feed if this doesn't endanger safety, or if this is not possible, biodegraded using composting and anaerobic digestion to produce methane for fuel and enrich agricultural soil.To avoid consumer waste, all foods should be purchasable in smaller amounts at a constant unit price and separated into compact sealable units to ensure they are kept fresh as long as possible. This would avoid excess buying which often leads to waste.Retail policies that lead to excess buying should be discouraged. These include moving items around the store and placing essentials at the rear of store to encourage coverage and residence time. Retail promotion and prominent positioning that encourages purchasing should also be reserved for sustainable products.
Skip the brand name- The store brand is less expensive and can also come from the same diary as you favorite brand. If you do not have a discount coupon against your favorite brand then it is better to go for a local brand after checking its contents and packaging.Buy skimmed milk- Skimmed milk is 10% less expensive and 5% more nutritious for you. Some people complain about its taste, you can add various artificial flavors to it in the beginning so as you can adjust to its taste.
However, are we taking a too lenient line with the food industry? The Sustainable Development Commission thinks so. It condemned targets set by WRAP as "unambitious and lacking urgency". with multi-buy promotions helping to fuel waste and obesity in Britain. Mr Lang, who is also professor of food policy at City University, London said that three years ago, the government-funded WRAP left it up to supermarkets to find voluntary "solutions to food waste" in an agreement dubbed the Courtauld Commitment. "The Government is frankly not using its leverage adequately. It really should toughen up on Courtauld, which must be enforced because this is ludicrous". An 18-month study, which found that "too many supermarket practices are still unhealthy, unjust and unsustainable", said Wrap should adopt a "more aspirational approach to reducing waste in food retail by setting longer-term targets and [supporting] a culture of zero waste".All this suggests that voluntary regulations are either ineffective or far too slow to take effect. The bottom line is that waste is endemic to contemporary economic ideology because corporate obligations require them to increase growth and profits and an effective means of achieving this is by encouraging excessive public consumption. Until these objectives are replaced with ones that are more beneficial to society than businesses, any significant progress in meeting sustainable targets without imposing strong regulations will be very limited.
About the Author:
Discover more about a 37 Critical Food Items and other Sold Out After Crisis , facts now.
No comments:
Post a Comment