With food waste on the increase and councils cracking down on composting is it fair to say the supermarkets are the villains behind the food waste epidemic on our hands?
The question of promotional offers, supermarket policies, and our temptation to hoard, will be discussed at the launch of this year’s popular café controversial series on Tuesday, February 18, at Satrosphere Science Centre.
Dr Jennie Macdiarmid, of the University of Aberdeen Rowett Institute of Nutrition and Health, will explore the promotional offers that surround us in the shops before going on to look at the impact food waste is having on our environment. The talk complements the exhibition currently on display within the science centre called MISSION POSSIBLE.
Dr Macdiarmid said: “The current food system and what we are choosing to eat is unsustainable in terms of our health and the planet, and one of the greatest challenges we face today is ensuring future global food security. A problem across the whole food system is the enormous amount of food that is wasted and thrown away, much of which could be eaten. In the UK, households throw away a total of 4.2 million tonnes of edible food a year. We need to understand why we waste so much food and explore how food waste can be reduced.”
The café controversial series is run by the Public Engagement with Research Unit at the University of Aberdeen in partnership with Satrosphere Science Centre. The event commences at 7pm in Satrosphere Science Centre and is free to attend. As with all café discussion events, everyone is welcome and there is no need to book. The full programme of this and other café series is available at www.engagingaberdeen.co.uk.
Cafe Controversial is supported by a science engagement grant from the Scottish Government and the BIOPROM consortium funded by the European Union Framework 7 programme.