The topic of rising food prices seems to have been in the headlines almost daily for the past few years, but the recent change in tone shows that these increases are now hitting the consumer. Today’s headline is that over the past year the number of emergency food parcels that Britain’s leading food bank is giving out has doubled – a worrying trend.
Rising food prices is a huge problem, but so is our change in attitude towards food. We’ve got so used to cheap food that it has now regarded as a disposable commodity – fridges are filled with cheap offers and then the contents is chucked in the bin when it’s out of date. Laura Sandys’ article in the Daily Telegraph yesterday highlights some interesting points – one of the more light-hearted ones being that in the 1970s and 80s Delia Smith had whole chapters of her cookery books dedicated to leftovers, while Jamie Oliver’s more modern recipes have none.
This is a theme we’ve taken forward for Food Safety Week this year (11 to 17 June), through which we hope to restore people’s love of leftovers, help them think more carefully before they stock their fridges, provide some sensible advice about ‘use by’ dates – generally encourage people to save some money without economising on food safety. This year, as well as local councils around the UK, we are also working with Love Food Hate Waste and FareShare to help get the message out – if you’ve got any great ideas for running events please let us know. You can find out more on food.gov.uk or our facebook page.
