Every year in the United Kingdom, £9.7 Billion pounds of food is wasted each year. Research estimates that around 10 million tonnes of food waste is generated every year in the UK, 70% of which was intended to be consumed by people. This food that is wasted, is good food. It is protein, dairy, wheat and nutrition. There are over 1.5 million adults struggling to eat every day. There are over 400,000 children at risk of missing the next meal. Food waste is also a big contributing factor in climate change – food waste causes eight per cent of greenhouse gases worldwide.

In February 2016, France became the first country in the world prohibiting supermarkets from throwing away unused and edible food. Supermarkets have since been required to donate all unsold food products to charities such as food banks. The campaign for France started on this very website. A similar campaign is happening in Canada, again on this website. Let’s start a similar campaign for the United Kingdom.

A similar anti-food waste law should be implemented in the United Kingdom. Not only with this help tackle the problem of food wastage but it would also address the problem of food poverty at the same time.This petition urges the Government of the United Kingdom, Prime Minister Boris Johnson, through The Rt Hon. George Eustice, Minister of Agriculture, to create a sustainable programme (below) to help tackle both food wastage & food poverty. This program will:

v  Prohibit supermarkets from destroying and wasting unsold & edible food and compulsory donating them to food banks, soup kitchens, food redistribution programmes and food charities.

v  Require the United Kingdom supermarkets to give wrongfully packaged or damaged edible food in good condition to United Kingdom food banks, soup kitchens, food redistribution programmes & food charities.

v  Require vegetable products that cannot be donated as they are no longer edible to be donated to fertilizer companies so they can be used as organic fertilizers for uses in both the feed and agricultural industries and also be used as animal food. 

 Food poverty and food wastage is a real problem. Food is the best medicine for our body and there are so many of us without it.

We have a voice. Let’s use it to vote for us and be a voice for the voiceless.

Use the #anikafoodcharity #afcendfoodwastage #afc #afcfoodmatters #afcwedeservebetter when sharing or discussing this campaign on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Whatsapp. That way I can also be involved and respond to your posts!

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