Companies and organisations in the waste management sector are encouraging the public to find solutions for their leftover pumpkins this Halloween in an effort to tackle food waste.
Oxfordshire residents are being encouraged to turn Halloween into ‘Hallow-eat’ as part of the county’s efforts to avoid extra food waste caused by the occasion.
Pumpkins on display at Sainsbury’s
According to Oxfordshire county council, every year thousands of pumpkins are carved to celebrate Halloween, with the authority adding that: “so much of what is scooped out could be eaten rather than binned.”
The local authority’s message this year is ‘Carve it, Cook it, Eat it – Don’t bin it!’ And, the council has published a selection of tips and recipes to help residents make the most out of their pumpkins.
Pumpkin festival
To coincide with Halloween, the Oxford Pumpkin Festival is returning for its fourth year with events across the city run by Good Food Oxford network members. This year’s festival dates will be 28th October to 5th November 2017.
A spokesperson for Oxfordshire county council said: “This annual event is a celebration of food: creatively encouraging people to think about the food they throw away, challenging preconceptions and teaching new skills.”
Good Food Oxford organisations are encouraging people to “squash food waste” by eating rather than discarding the flesh of their Halloween pumpkins.
The spokesperson continued: “The festival is packed full of different events from start to finish. There is something for everyone, with activities including a pop-up pumpkin bistro, pumpkin-themed market stalls and cafe menus, surplus food cook-ups, pumpkin fancy dress, bonfires, live music, and much more.”
All the events will promote seasonal eating and not wasting food, accompanied by recipe cards with easy tips to reduce food waste.
Refood
Food waste firm Refood has also taken the occasion of Halloween to remind the public to look for sustainable alternatives for leftover food.
According to Refood, Halloween is now the third biggest holiday celebrated in the UK. The company said families across the country are buying and carving more than ten million pumpkins per year.
“At ReFood, we work with businesses across the food supply chain to eliminate food waste to landfill. In a partnership with retail giant Sainsbury’s, we’ve helped stores across its network develop a more sustainable approach to waste management.”
Philip Simpson
ReFood UK
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The company explained “more than 18,000 tonnes of perfectly edible pumpkins end up in the bin over the holiday period. That’s the equivalent weight of 1,500 double decker buses, or enough to make a bowl of soup for every person in the UK!”
Philip Simpson, commercial director at ReFood UK said: “At ReFood, we work with businesses across the food supply chain to eliminate food waste to landfill. In a partnership with retail giant Sainsbury’s, we’ve helped stores across its network develop a more sustainable approach to waste management.”
As part of the agreement, food waste is collected from a number of Sainsbury’s depots, before being converted into gas, heat and fertiliser at ReFood’s state-of-the-art anaerobic digestion processing facilities.
Hubbub
One charity getting involved in Halloween this year is Hubbub – the London-based food distributor – with its #PumpkinRescue campaign. The campaign comprises everything from carving and cooking workshops to tasting events and recipe ideas from leading UK chefs.
According to Hubbub, since its launch in 2014, the campaign has been adopted by 23 towns nationwide and diverted 25 tonnes of pumpkin waste from landfill.
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Source: letsrecycle.com Waste Managment
