Food Waste Top Of The G8 Summit Agenda

Consumers must stop wasting food amid growing concerns of the cost of living, the Prime Minister has said.

Gordon Brown has arrived in Japan for a G8 summit, which is expected to be dominated by rising prices and the world economy.

A Government study has found that the average household throws out £8 of leftovers every week.

The 10-month study found that British families are dumping a total of 4.1 million tonnes of good food every year, costing each about £420 annually.

The report also claims that up to 40% of food harvested in developing countries can be lost before it is consumed, due to "inadequacies of processing, storage and transport".

Mr Brown says that rich countries had to take responsibility.

He said action needed to be taken to both "increase the global supply of food and reduce unnecessary demand".

"People recognise the high food prices in Britain – the price of bread, the price of eggs, the price of milk – this is happening all over the world and we have got to have a global solution to what is a global problem.

"We will be discussing at the G8 how we can help Africa realise its great potential as a food producer and we would like to see production of key food stuffs in Africa double over the next 5-10 years," he said.

Jill Lester, President and Chief Executive Officer of The Hunger Project said "the rising cost of nearly every staple food, from wheat and maize to soy and rice, has caused food riots to break out in countries such as Haiti, Cote d'lvoire, Egypt, the Philippines and Indonesia".

"The high cost of food is badly affecting the poorest of the poor, and the implications, including increased malnutrition rates, are likely to be felt for a long time to come," she said.

The price of food will dominate the G8 agenda, which will also include discussion on global economic turbulence, record oil prices, climate change and international aid.

UK Environment Secretary Hilary Benn said "what we are trying to get across is there is this complex relationship between what we buy, the amount, waste, the impact on climate change and the impact on our health".

The food we waste includes 359,000 tonnes of potatoes and 161,000 tonnes of meat or fish thrown out every year.

Steve Webb, the Liberal Democrats environment spokesman said "the problem of food waste has been made worse by the government's failure to get tough with supermarkets".

However, Friends of the Earth food campaigner Kirtana Chandrasekaren said tackling food waste is important but "only part of the solution".

She instead called for changes to policies on biofuels and international trade.

Friends of the Earth believe biofuels are a "false solution to climate change are doing more harm that good".

The campaign group believes that the massive increase in Europe's demand for biofuels will have a "devastating impact" on the world's poorest countries by "destroying communities, damaging wildlife and pushing up food prices".

A confidential World Bank report published in a British newspaper on Friday said that biofuels have "forced global food prices up by 75%".

(DS)