Waste not want not.

Provided by 7DAYS.ae

A recent study in the UK shows that a monstrous 4.1 million tonnes of food is thrown out each year, as a result of household and industry waste. The last comprehensive study on food waste in the US was conducted in 1997, and it revealed that each year Americans discard more than a staggering 43 million tonnes of good food. No doubt this figure has risen steeply since, no thanks to the rise of the supermarket and the flourishing of fast-food outlets. In this part of the world food wastage is equally troubling.Aa A lack of statistics means that we can't put exact figures on the problem but an article published in The Peninsula daily newspaper in Qatar last September did give an indication. It reported that across Qatar during the holy month of Ramadan, around 100,000 tonnes of food waste was carted away daily from venues offering Iftar - the daily meal to break fast.

So in a 'throw-away-happy' society like Dubai, famed for it's all-you-can-eat buffet deals and brunches, one can onlyAa imagine the amount of food waste that is consistently being generated. A Dubai chef, who asked to remain anonymous, but works for a large hotel chain in the city, told 7DAYS that he recently prepared a massive banquet of food - all of which, ended up in the rubbish. "We prepared aAa banquet costing dhs18,000 for some high profile people recently," says the chef. "But the person that the banquet was in aid of only made a five-minute appearance at the event. He didn't touch the food and left promptly. Everyone else in the room also left soon afterwards, so the entire dhs18,000 worth of food was thrown in the bin."Aa Conscientious Dubai mother, Mariam El-Accad, who also designs her own clothing line, Half Pint, says that she often thinks establishing a food waste collection service would be ideal in Dubai."I have always thought it would be a great idea to collect all the untouched food from hotels and restaurants and take it around to the labour camps," says Mariam. "Maybe the labourers would not like the food, and maybe more waste would be created re-packaging it, but I am sure someone could come up with some good ideas to make such an idea work, and save food waste." So what can each individual household do to try and reduce waste? A recent feature in the UK's Guardian offered the following tips:

BEWARE OF THE SUPERMARKET

Supermarkets are dangerous, because the idea of the one-stop shop encourages you to buy more than you need. If you do have to go to a supermarket, make a list of what you need beforehand, and stick to it rigorously - but do check that these are groceries you genuinely need, and not items you have just got into the habit of buying.

IGNORE TWO-FOR-ONE OFFERS

More often than not, supermarket two-for-one offers exist because the items in question are nearing their use-by date, or to give shoppers 'the halo effect' - the feeling that they are in a place of endless bargains. But stop and think: are you really going to eat those 12 iced cakes before they go stale?

Two-for-one offers are only great value, provided you know how you can use the extra food.

SHOP DAILY FOR PERISHABLES

By shopping daily for what you need, you are less likely to buy mounds of vegetables, meat and fish that will then sit in the fridge going off.

BE STORAGE SAVVY

There are tonnes of household tips for storing foods to increase their longevity, including topping and tailing carrots as soon as you buy them to prolong their life, keeping apples in the fridge so they last days longer than in the fruit bowl, and ensuring your olive oil is kept somewhere cool and dry to prevent the breakdown of the fatty acids. Visit www.lovefoodhatewaste.com for more great tips.

MEAL PLAN FOR THE WEEK

If, at the beginning of the week, you work out precisely what you wish to cook over the next seven days (some of which may incorporate leftovers), you can then shop with a degree of rigour, are less likely to be distracted by appetising products on the supermarket shelves, and even less likely to end up with a heap of unused foodstuffs at the end of the week.

What happens to food waste in Dubai?

The LIMETREE CAFEe

"We run under a minimum waste policy and that has been in operation since we opened six years ago. We have a good feel at this stage of what we will sell per day, so we make roughly the right amount of food to cater for this. Where there is any waste, it is always offered to staff members or any workers that happen to be working in the cafE[umlaut], so electricians, gardeners or decorators to take home. The Limetree always tries to have minimal waste," says Claire Kosior, catering and retail manager at the Limetree CafE[umlaut].

ORGANIC FOODS AND CAFEe

"We have very strict Corporate Social Responsibility standards and waste is one we take very seriously. In terms of food waste from our cafes and stores, all fruit and vegetable waste is turned into compost; products near their expiry date that we know we won't sell, are sent to a shelter for battered wives in Ajman, and all our leftover bread goes to a local man, who has a big herd of goats. That only leaves cooked food waste, which is often doled out to our staff," says Nils El-Accad, owner of Organic Foods and CafE[umlaut] Dubai.

ICH Group Dubai

"With the current rising costs of basic food items both local and imported, food wastage can have a dramatic effect on your food costs if not controlled or managed effectively. We have several ways of reducing our food wastage, especially as we have two extensive buffets here at InterContinental Dubai Festival City.Aa "The most effective way is to reduce the quantities on the buffet and replenish more frequently. Next, we monitor guest traffic in the outlets and stock the buffets accordingly. Also, with the live cooking stations, we prepare as much as possible to order. By following these three basic principles, we offer our guests a wide range of dishes without incurring too much waste. Also, this links to our hotel food safety plan, because food is not displayed on open buffets for an extended period if it is replenished more often," says Geoff Haviland, Executive Chef for the InterContinental DFC, Crowne Plaza DFC and InterContinental Residence Suites DFC.

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