Dear constituent,

Thank you for contacting me about food waste.

Over 13.6 million tonnes of food are wasted every year in the UK, incurring a significant carbon cost. At the same time, millions of people are struggling to afford to eat and foodbank use has sadly risen during the coronavirus pandemic. I pay tribute to the fantastic work carried out by FareShare, which has provided two million meals per week to people in need throughout the pandemic.

I believe the Government must take bolder, faster action to tackle the problem of food waste if we are to achieve UN Sustainable Development Goal 12.3 on halving global food waste at retail and consumer levels by 2030.

Indeed, in January 2020, the Committee on Climate Change - the UK’s independent advisor on tackling the climate crisis - recommended that the Government implement steps to reduce food waste produced annually by 20% as part of its wider set of recommendations on achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions.

The Government has brought forward measures on mandatory food waste collection in the Environment Bill, however, it is missing a plethora of other actions it could take to reduce food waste, such as setting targets for public and private sectors and improving labelling.

I am aware that Henry Dimbleby was commissioned to lead an independent review of the food system to develop recommendations to shape a National Food Strategy. Part one was published in July 2020 and part two, which will focus on issues such as the climate crisis, biodiversity and the sustainable use of resources, is due later this year. I will follow developments on this closely.

Thank you once again for contacting me about this issue. I can assure you that I will continue to call for greater action on reducing food waste.

Yours sincerely,

Peter Dowd MP