Christmas Food Waste [Infographic]

Sam Butterworth http://www.eco2greetings.com 2m 496 #christmas

The views of this article are the perspective of the author and may not be reflective of Confessions of the Professions.

How Much Christmas Food Goes To Waste?

Christmas time is here again, which, for many people means food! The festive period is not a great one for diets as people have parties, festive dinners, chocolates, sweets and other treats. And then there is Christmas dinner itself: numerous courses and plates piles high with turkey, stuffing, pigs in blankets, sprouts (well maybe a couple), roast potatoes, parsnips, carrots, Christmas pudding, Christmas cake…and then maybe cheese, crackers and more chocolate!

Sounds good right? Well yes, but did you ever stop to think about how much of this food is wasted every year? Stocking up on huge amounts of food for Christmas may seem essential, but according to research by The Independent, visualised by eC02 Greetings, on Christmas Day UK households throw away up to 4.2 million dinners! In a country of 64 million people that is a shocking statistic.

How much food is that?

4.2 million Christmas dinners is the equivalent to: 263,000 turkeys; 740,000 Christmas puddings; or 17.2 million Brussel sprouts! The Independent’s research suggests that it would take the average family up to four days to eat all the food they buy for just Christmas Day!

So what should we do?

Nobody is saying we shouldn’t treat ourselves to tasty food at Christmas, but maybe we should plan ahead a little more and just buy what we will actually get through.

We should also use up any leftovers in the days after Christmas. Turkey and stuffing sandwiches usually go down very well, as does turkey curry, Christmas pie with a selection of leftovers and there are many other options to make sure good food isn’t wasted.

Another great idea in the festive period (and at all times), is to donate (non-leftover) food to food banks. There are many people living in poverty for whom getting enough to eat is the main concern, so why not help them out and contribute to a better Christmas for all.

Check out this infographic for full details on how much food goes to waste.

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Text-Friendly Version

CHRISTMAS FOOD WASTE

4.2 MILLION CHRISTMAS DINNERS THROWN AWAY EVERY YEAR

CHRISTMAS IS A TIME OF JOY BUT ALSO A TIME OF GIVING.

UNFORTUNATELY, IT IS ALSO A TIME OF WASTE.

There are 64 million people in the UK and on Christmas Day a staggering 4.2 million Christmas dinners are thrown away across the country.

BUT, WHAT EXACTLY DO WE THROW AWAY?

The 4.2 million Christmas dinners that are thrown away is the equivalent to 17.2 million brussels sprouts, 263,000 turkeys, and 740,000 Christmas puddings.

• 17.2 million Brussel Sprouts
• 13.5 million Carrots
• 10.2 million Roast Potatoes
• 10.1 million Parsnips
• 9.9 million Cups of Gravy
• 8 million Cups of Stuffing
• 8 million Pigs in Blankets
• 7.5 million Christmas Cake
• 8 million Turkey

When it comes to the festive season it seems our eyes are bigger than our bellies as it would take the average family nearly 4 days to eat all of their food bought just for Christmas Day.

DON’T LET THIS CHRISTMAS BE A WASTEFUL ONE!

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