Wasted food

Dec 28 2007 by Catrin Pascoe, Western Mail

The layout of supermarkets, with cars parked conveniently close to the checkouts, could contribute to the 350,000 tonnes of food Welsh people throw away every year, according to Friends of the Earth Cymru.

Waste Awareness Wales estimates that Welsh consumers spend £400m on food that ends up in the bin.

Gordon James, director of FoEC, said people who did not use cars for grocery shopping were unlikely to buy unnecessary food because they bought only what they could carry home.

He said, “My wife occasionally goes to the supermarket and comes back and says, ‘Look, these were two for one’. I say, ‘That’s good, we didn’t want one’.

“Supermarkets are pushing consumerism as hard as possible, and people buy too much. We’re hearing constantly about obesity and people consuming too much.

“The planning system needs guidelines to encourage development that doesn’t depend on the car.”