Tuesday 9 December 2014

Use By - Sell By


It seems crazy to me that we have food banks while supermarkets are forced to chuck out thousands of tonnes of produce because they're adhering to government rules on use by and sell by dates.

Use by and sell by are fine for an affluent society, but not when you're on the breadline. Supermarkets can't even donate this excess to the needy, as they would still be guilty of putting it into the food chain.

Perhaps we need a 2 tier use by and sell by - one for the affluent and another for the poor, with an associated price drop for the latter.

Baroness Wossername is right about poor people not being able to cook, but perhaps it was expressed in an unfortunate manner. I'd contest that most people can't cook - people have lost the skills. These days a busy family buys ready meals and you can even buy a complete Heston or Jamie Christmas dinner these days.

Given kids are usually home before their parents, perhaps kids should be taught to cook as part of their curriculum and then parents can come home to a lovely, home-cooked meal.


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