Midland Farmer - September 2023

September 2023
Over 90% of Irish households
throw out food – research
A total of 82% of people in Ireland are concerned
about food waste in their household yet
94% are still throwing out food, according to
new research from SuperValu.
Of those people concerned about food waste
in their household, 80% would like to reduce
their food waste. Fruit is the most common
food item thrown out by Irish households.
Bananas, apples and strawberries are the
fruit thrown out the most. Lettuce, carrots and
potatoes are the top three vegetables most
likely to be binned, SuperValu said.
Spoilage, expiration and overbuying are the
three most common reasons for food waste in
Irish households, the research, commissioned
as part of SuperValu’s ‘Take Local Action,
Make Global Impact’ campaign, found.
FOOD WASTE
Ireland generated a total of 753,000t of food
waste in 2021, of which households accounted
for 29%, according to latest figures by the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA).
On an annual basis, each person throws out
44kg of food which costs the average Irish
household about €700 every year. Nationally,
that’s a cost of €1.29 billion, the EPA said.
While 89% of people are making a conscious
effort to reduce their food waste, only 32% of
the 1,200 surveyed adults regularly use leftovers,
the research found.
A weekly meal plan is prepared by 44% of
people and 36% said they portion correctly.
Survey results also show that 10% of people
never use leftovers when cooking.
Shopping better, freezing food and using leftovers
are the most popular ways by which people
are reducing food waste.
CAMPAIGN
The ‘Take Local Action, Make Global Impact’
campaign aims to showcase how collectively,
small lifestyle changes can lead to bigger
global impacts.
Speaking about the initiative, head of sustainability
at SuperValu, Owen Keogh, said
that research shows that people want to make
changes but sometimes don’t know where to
start.
“Across all our digital channels and in-store,
we will be encouraging and highlighting ways
people can take small local actions that can
contribute to a global impact,” he said.
“From recipes to help reduce food waste with
recycling tips and highlighting in-store the
extensive plant-based options and range of
locally sourced Irish products,” he said.
SuperValu estimates that if the average
household reduces its food waste by 50%,
greenhouse gas (GHG) emission per person
could be reduced by 37.4kg.
Improving Ireland’s recycling rate by 10%
could yield a 13kg GHG emissions reduction
per household, according to SuperValu which
aims to cut food waste in their operations by
50% by 2030.
Recommended dairy servings
for children cost 65c/day
The recommended three servings a day of
dairy for children costs an average of 65c,
according to a new back-to-school survey.
The survey, carried out by the National Dairy
Council (NDC), examined the cost of including
a portion of milk, yogurt or cheese in children’s
lunch boxes.
This included comparing the prices of dairy
products in four Irish supermarkets: Dunnes
Stores; Tesco; SuperValu and Aldi.
The survey found that it costs an average of
21c for a 200ml serving of milk, 14c for a 25g
serving of hard cheese, and 30c for a 125g pot of
yogurt.
This comes at a time when food price inflation
in Ireland is running at more than 10%.
MIDLAND FARMER
19
Planning for 2024
on tillage farms
Planning for 2024 will start to rise up the
pecking order of importance for tillage farmers
over the coming weeks.
Growers of oilseed rape have already started
this planting process with crop plantings now
underway.
They will be quickly followed by farmers
drilling winter cereals, weather permitting,
over the coming weeks.
Getting the correct crop mix on a farm correct
is important, in order to spread risk. But
rotation also plays a key part in adhering to
Department of Agriculture, Food and the
Marine (DAFM) regulations.
On the latest Tillage Edge podcast, Teagasc
tillage specialist Shay Phelan confirmed the
breadth and scope of the new Good Agricultural
and Environmental Condition (GAEC)
regulations.
He explained that tillage farmers, when
signing-up for the new Basic Income Support
for Sustainability (BISS) payments, also committed
to maintaining a number of farm management
standards.
Phelan said: “Many of these would have
been covered by the previous greening regulations.
These would have included the likes of
buffer strips along water courses.
“Also included would have been the two and
three-crop rule.”
According to Phelan, there are now a total of
9 GAEC regulations in place. And tillage
farmers will be familiar with the subject
areas covered by these measures.
These include the likes of specifying the criteria
that must be followed when ploughingup
grassland. Another relates to the
restrictions placed on burning arable stubbles.
However, there are a number of new regulations
covered by the GAEC measures, which
specifically relate to tillage farmers.
“The crop rotation measures that are covered
in GAEC 7 will be new to tillage farmers
as are the new catch crop regulations that are
linked back to the new nitrates measures,”
Phelan added.
“The main GAEC measures that will be of
direct interest to tillage farmers are the following.
“GAEC 1 relates to the ploughing up of
grassland; GAEC 3 relates to the prohibition
of burning arable stubbles. GAEC 4 covers
the need to place buffer strips adjacent to
waterways. These have been increased from
2m to 3m. The width increases further to 6m
for late harvested crops.
“GAEC 5 deals with measures that reduce
the risk of soil degradation and erosion.
GAEC 6 deals with the issues of maintaining
soil cover and reducing poaching. This is the
condition that is causing a lot of commentary
at the moment,” he said.
DAIRY
The Department of Health’s recommendations
for healthy eating includes three servings
from the ‘milk, yogurt and cheese’ food
group for those aged 5-8 years; with five servings
recommended for 9-18 year olds, due to the
importance of calcium during this life stage.
“Back to school is one of the most expensive
times of the year for parents and, with food
prices rising across the board, it has never
been more challenging to feed a family affordably
whilst also guaranteeing that kids get a
healthy balanced diet,” Dr. Mary Harrington,
senior nutritionist with NDC, said.
“Our survey of supermarket prices found
that the recommended three servings of dairy
per day for 5-8 year olds, costs on average €0.65,
so putting a dairy product in your child’s
lunchbox provides excellent value for money
while also packing a real nutritional punch.
“One serving each of milk, yogurt and
cheese, provides a wide range of nutrients,
including calcium, protein, iodine, phosphorus
and B vitamins – all of which play an
important role in your kid’s health,” she
added.