Food Waste Panel Discussion Invites Lively Debate at Film Feast Suffolk

As part of Film Feast Suffolk festival, held in Woodbridge over the weekend (5-7^th October 2018),  environmentally aware food fans attended a food waste panel discussion on Saturday 6^th October at The Riverside Theatre to tackle the important issue of food waste. The discussion was preceded by a screening of the film Wasted! The Story of Food Waste, which aims to change the way people buy, cook, recycle, and eat food. In attendance were;

Caroline Page – County Councillor for Woodbridge
Eamonn O’Nolan – The Green Party for Suffolk Coastal
Charlie Zakss – Transition Woodbridge
Caroline Fish – Suffolk Waste Partnership
Steven Fendley – East of England Co-op representative
Kat Gosling – The Teapot Project

The panel tackled the challenges that the general public, government and retailers face and discussed how the UK can move forward and reduce food waste, including innovative schemes similar to The East of England Co-op’s award-winning ‘Co-op Guiding to Dating’ initiative.

Launched in December 2017, the ‘Co-op Guide to Dating’ saw East Anglia’s largest independent retailer take a marked stance in the fight against food waste by becoming the first major retailer to sell products past their Best Before date in-store for just 10p.

Steven Fendley, Building & Environmental Compliance Manager of the East of England Co-op said: “We were very proud to sponsor Film Feast Suffolk and to contribute to the discussion on food waste, which is a very important issue for us all.

“Our Co-op Guide to Dating campaign was launched last year to directly address the growing problem of food waste and it is something that we, as a business, feel very strongly about.  Everyone who participated on the panel shared their views with conviction, and we hope that building awareness of this issue will help pave the way for future generations.”

More information about Film Feast Suffolk can be found at www.filmfeast.co.uk