Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal

Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal by Tristram Stuart is a standard-sized paperback published in 2009 by Penguin Books.

This is a relatively thick book (although there is a substantial appendix and notes section at the back) which looks at how, and how much, food is wasted across the world by consumers, suppliers and producers. It is certainly a revealing read which not only makes the reader, as a consumer, think about personal waste, but brings about a realisation of the bigger picture in which a quite sickening amount of food is wasted across the world. The book has a UK perspective but compares where possible the statistics from this country with those from around the world, including the rest of Europe and the USA. It also takes a look at some developing countries which, perhaps more surprisingly, also waste enormous amounts of food although often in different ways to developed countries.

On the one hand this book can make you think ‘where do we start with this problem’, but on the other, the author not only makes you think about what we as consumers can do day to day, but also how we can have influence over suppliers in terms of what is acceptable. Stuart has many suggestions about how the problems of food wastage can be tackled and the reader is certainly left with ‘food for thought’. Despite the large numbers of statistics, this book is well written making it difficult to put down.

With a RRP price of £9.99 this book is reasonable value and is printed on recycled paper.

Thanks to Penguin Books for sending us a sample of this product.