Is the instagram generation to blame for the current spike in food waste?
On the one hand you could say that we are the most socially and environmentally aware generation to date – we care about where our food comes from, how it’s grown, and what its carbon footprint is – however you could say that while we worry about reducing non-organic waste by cutting down on food packaging and grocery bags, food waste itself is a topic which often gets neglected as it’s not seen to be as urgent or crucial as eradicating single-use plastic for example. From my experience, I know that the vast majority of households currently run by people in their twenties and thirties recycle as much as possible – and yes, composting is great, but what are we doing about actually reducing the amount of organic rubbish we produce to begin with?
In a generation where people order food in a restaurant based on what looks good in pictures to post on social media rather than how hungry they are and where influencer-led food fads often mean people end up buying ingredients for a recipe which they are not likely to ever use again (did anyone else buy into the lucuma powder frenzy or was that just me?!), it is easy to see why millennials, and in particular influencers, are taking the blame for creating a “food waste culture”.
How can restaurants cut down on food waste?
There are two key ways in which every restaurant in the UK can do their bit to help solve the food waste issue; the first is to nip the problem in the bud by implementing practices in their kitchens which help cut down on waste when it comes to food preparation – from being stricter on purchasing quantities to making sure that the parts of ingredients not being used for one recipe are then going into a different dish, for example a restaurant serving the ever popular prawn cocktail as a starter could and should be using the prawn heads to make a delicious fish stock which can then be used as a base for many mains. The other major way to reduce food waste in restaurants is by making smart decisions around how to dispose of any unavoidable food surplus. I believe that the first port of call should always be to give unwanted food to food banks and shelters – food waste is a social issue as much as an environmental one and in a city such as London where homelessness and hunger are still very real problems, no food which is fit for human consumption should ever end up in a bin. Fortunately there are charities such as City Harvest, Fare Share, and Food Cycle, whose sole purpose it is to connect shops and restaurants with those in need.
When it comes to food past its due date and which therefore cannot be donated, restaurants can still make their best efforts to ensure that as little of it as possible ends up in landfills by composting it themselves or by working together with associations which collect the food waste and turn it into animal feed, thus also impacting the food-chain from the bottom up as these are animals which will eventually end up back in a restaurant kitchen to be served as food one day!
How can social media help reduce food waste instead?
In my opinion, it would be very easy for social media to go from being part of the problem to being part of the solution: influencer chefs could share more ideas on how to use left-over ingredients from previous recipes – for example I like to use left-over egg yolks from making pavlova (one of my favourite desserts, which only uses egg whites) for a good old carbonara – that’s dinner and pudding sorted with no waste! Foe influencers like myself who mostly eat out it’s very important to remember that the key part of influencing is being a trend-setter in many ways, so it’s imperative that we only order what we actually plan on eating rather that what will look good in a picture and to emphasise to our followers that this is what we are doing to encourage them to do the same. I am personally guilty of over-ordering as often my eyes are bigger than my stomach, but I always make sure to take leftovers home with me to enjoy as my next meal.
Do you think social media is responsible for part of the food waste problem we are currently facing? Are you guilty of over-ordering for the ‘gram?
By Luisa Ruocco
About the author
Luisa Ruocco is a food & travel influencer, follow her adventures on her instagram page The Hungry Traveller @luisainsta
https://www.instagram.com/luisainsta/
