Tesco and the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) are calling on the government to act as food waste on UK farms is on the rise.
According to a new report by the UK’s leading retailer and the sustainable organisation, more than six million meals worth of edible food goes to waste before it makes it out of the farm gate.
The joint report, named Hidden Waste, calls for urgent government action to tackle food waste on UK farms, which it estimates amounts to 3.3 million tonnes a year – making up a quarter of all food lost and wasted in the UK.
The report from Tesco and the WWF comes at a time when the ongoing cost-of-living crisis continues to put a squeeze on finances, making action from government ministers even more crucial.
Additionally, the Hidden Waste document says that food waste on farms far surpasses the total waste occurring in manufacturing, retail and the hospitality sector, and warns it is putting the UK’s food security at risk.
“This hidden crisis shows why we need urgent action to fix our broken food system,” executive director of advocacy and campaigns at WWF, Kate Norgrove said.
“The UK government and businesses across the food sector must take urgent action to support farmers in slashing food loss and waste on farms, as part of wider efforts to drive down waste across the food system.
“At the same time, ministers must reaffirm the government’s commitment to incentives that will drive a UK-wide shift to nature-friendly farming, helping to future-proof our food system and bring our world back to life.”
Also commenting on the findings is quality director at Tesco, Sarah Bradbury. She said: “It’s completely unacceptable that good food goes to waste, and never more so than at a time when families are struggling to put food on the table.
“It’s why we’ve worked hard to tackle the issue of food waste in our own business, recently announcing that we will accelerate our plans to halve food waste in our own operations by 2025, five years ahead of our original goal.
“Today’s report by the Tesco-WWF partnership plays a critical role in shining a light on hidden food waste.
“With ongoing environmental and economic challenges affecting the food system, we hope it will challenge our industry to understand the underlying drivers of on-farm waste and help us to work together to resolve it.”
