Food Waste – The Cutting Edge > conference report

This was a conference provided by the Devon Strategic Waste Committee which is supported by 8 District Councils and co-ordinated by Emma Croft.

The Stats:-

Of the 7 million tons of UK household waste 5 million tons is edible waste.

Speakers for the day included Jen Gales of A Sustainable Life, also presentations from the WRAP TRiFOCAL project (London) and ECOWASTE4FOOD (Devon County Council / European partners).

Lunch was provided (assisted by delegates) by Food in the Community of Totnes. One of the ingredients had been picked from the field the previous day – broccoli whose heads were too small to be accepted by the supermarkets. It was delicious.

There was a choice of 6 workshops where you could learn in more depth about the work of The Abundance Project, setting up a Community Fridge with Transition Bro Gwaun (based in Pembrokeshire); Cooking Lunch from Surplus with Food in Community (Totnes); fermenting vegetables with Okehampton’s Harvest Workers Co-op, setting up a surplus community café from Community Action Groups Devon and Waste Not Café (Ilfracombe); and a discussion about our key behaviours from Love Food Hate Waste (a subsidiary of WRAP. (Waste and Resources Action Programme).

Reflections and action plans were discussed at the summing up and it was agreed by all that the day had been informative and providing a very useful networking forum.

Individually, it was emphasised the impact of all our actions and having a greater awareness of our unconscious consumption decisions.