“We owe a debt to those of the past that created the opportunities that we have today, and we can only repay that debt to people of the future, but with our repayment of that debt, our life becomes better”
John Ikerd (Professor Emeritus of Agricultural Economics at the University of Missouri)
There has recently been a lot of outrage against single use plastic, and rightly so. The quantities of throwaway plastic in supermarkets alone is staggering. A survey conducted by a campaign group in partnership with the Environmental Investigation Agency found that the top 10 UK supermarkets are currently putting out around 810 000 tonnes of plastic on the market every year, which is discarded after one use. None of this is recyclable and it is harming our sea life. Plastic pollution is truly a crisis.
The worst thing is, we don’t even need this plastic in the first place. Where I grew up in France, supermarkets sell their fruit and veg loose and shoppers can bring their own bags and pick up however much they need. Here in the UK, everything has to be wrapped in useless plastic. Thankfully, more and more supermarkets are selling some fruit and veg items loose, especially carrots and potatoes. There is a lot of pressure from Greenpeace for supermarkets to have a clear plastic reduction target plan, and some of them have. Iceland, Morrisons and Asda seem to be the ones most set on reducing single use plastic, according to the recent Greenpeace ranking. The worst ones are Sainsburys and Coop.
With this knowledge in hand, each of us can take part in the war against plastic. If supermarkets fail us, we can turn to local farmer’s markets, community gardens, or even veg box schemes (Abel & Cole and Riverford being the two main ones). We have the power to send the message to big retailers that we want to change our food system, and this message is already reaching them loud and clear, so let’s keep going!
Clarisse Hassan 