Main content

My food waste is ‘embarrassing’

Dads in Leeds try cutting down on food waste

Every day, the equivalent of 20 million slices of bread is thrown away in UK homes.

Growing, making, distributing, storing and cooking food uses energy, fuel and water and this process generates greenhouse gases.

Around one third of all food is wasted so climate experts say it is one of the biggest contributors to global warming.

So, what could people choose to do differently to cut their food waste?

Radio 5 Live challenged four dads from Leeds to experiment with reducing their family food waste.

Steve, Errol, David and Josh, from the support group ‘Leeds Dads’, monitored their food rubbish for two weeks with diaries and photographs.

Errol said seeing how much was wasted by the end was “embarrassing”.

The dads say the experience has made them think about changing their habits by planning meals better, being more creative with leftovers and talking to their children about why food waste is an issue.

The 'Love Food, Hate Waste’ initiative has the following tips for people wanting to cut down on food waste:

- Make sure your fridge is cold enough.

- Make ‘me-sized’ meals for kids.

- Swap fresh fruit and veg for frozen.

- Leftovers are lunch the next day.

- Toast bread from frozen.

Radio 5 Live has launched a year-long project following the city of Leeds, which has committed to reduce direct emissions to net-zero by 2030. Leeds: City On A Mission aims to show what a net-zero economy could really mean for people's homes, work, travel, diet and leisure time.

Release date:

Duration:

1 minute

This clip is from