Banishing food waste

Young Workers May 16 2017

National Youth Committee member Jamie George secured an impressive CWU Annual Conference success by securing unanimous support from delegates for a motion committing the union to put its own house in order as a small but morally important step towards addressing the national and international scandal of food wastage.

 

Proposing a motion in the name of his branch, the Central Counties and Thames Valley member made a heartfelt speech in which he urged that leftover food from meetings at headquarters be donated to the homeless rather than being thrown away.

 

Pointing out that across the EU a staggering 88 million tonnes of food is wasted annually and that the union has itself been vocal on the rise of food poverty and the associated explosion in the usage of food banks, Jamie pointed out: “It’s a crime to throw away food fit for consumption and we are participating in this crime.

 

“There is a YMCA right round the corner from head office in Wimbledon and I suggest that leftover food is taken there or handed out to some form of shelter.

 

“I spend a lot of my own time taking food to shelters and handing it out on the streets – and there’s no reason whatsoever why all of us and our union can’t pull together and do the same.”