New partnership with Guardians of Grub to advance food waste reduction across Manchester
The Manchester Food Board have announced a ground-breaking new partnership with Guardians of Grub, a food waste reduction campaign from WRAP designed for the Hospitality and Food Service sector. The Manchester Food Board is the campaign’s first regional partner. This is an exciting step to link national food campaigns with strong resources to a regional partner and network.
Food waste is a massive issue for the environment, though it often goes unrecognised that wasting food feeds climate change. For every 2 tonnes of food we eat, another tonne is wasted. This has a massive impact on global heating but also costs businesses a lot of money. In the UK, every year, food waste costs the hospitality and food service industry £3.2 billion (Guardians of Grub, Business Case Presentation -https://guardiansofgrub.com/resources/). There is so much scope to have a positive impact on food waste, this new partnership will look to excel the reduction of food waste across Greater Manchester.
Guardians of Grub offers industry-leading, free resources including online courses, how-to guides and calculators, along with information posters. Everyone in the food and beverage sector will be able to use these simple and easy to follow guides. It is all about making simple, low-cost changes to the way food is bought, prepared and served that can help reduce the amount of food needlessly thrown away.
As a result of the cost-of-living crisis, we need more mechanisms and resources to help businesses become more resilient. Focusing on reducing wasted food will help businesses reduce costs through a time when there is more pressure than ever, while also delivering positive environmental benefits.
To put food waste in perspective, if it were a country, it would be the third largest emitter in the world!
It is shocking that the majority of potatoes end up in the bin - and not on people's plates. Simple measures can reduce the 44 potatoes that are thrown away in the restaurant. Measuring waste containers and simple logging tools have been shown to make a big difference.
The new partnership between the Manchester Food Board and Guardians of Grub will look to not only help more potatoes onto people’s plates but reduce food waste across Greater Manchester. Through this process, businesses will become more resilient and also reduce their impact on the environment.