Feeding the 5000 launches 2011 campaign9 November 2011
Feeding the 5000 launches its 2011 campaign today with an event in Parliament.
The campaign aims to highlight the amount of food wasted in the UK and is supported by organisations including Friends of the Earth, FareShare, FoodCycle and Love Food Hate Waste.
You can support the campaign in many ways, including joining us for its major event in Trafalgar Square.
So how much do we waste?
From plough to plate, Britain wastes an estimated 16 million tonnes of food every year. That's enough to fill Wembley Stadium 16 times over.
Instead of ending up in landfill, or being burnt, much of this food could be eaten by people. Much of what can't could feed farm animals. The rest could be used for composting, or anaerobic digestion (where food scraps are treated to produce heat and gas).
Feed a pig, foul a forest
And it gets worse. By importing animal feeds like soy - instead of feeding farm animals our leftovers - the UK is driving deforestation abroad.
This deforestation is:
- Destroying local communities' livelihoods
- A major cause of climate change
- Ripping up vital wildlife habitat
What you can do to help
There are lots of ways you can help cut food waste and support our campaign:
- Ask the Government to help cut food waste
- Sign the Feeding the 5000 pledge
Pledge to reduce your own food waste, receive advice on how to do it and let businesses know you'd like them to cut their waste too - Join us for the Feeding the 5000 event - Midday-2pm, Friday 18 November, Trafalgar Square
Enjoy one of 5000 free lunches (made from food that would otherwise have been wasted), see celebrity chef demos and join interactive workshops. - Join our Real Food News email list
To take simple on-line actions to help fix the food chain
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