Shopping Makes You Fat (and it’s bad for the planet too)

The SDC blames the food chain for 20% of greenhouse gas emissions in the UK and for contributing to unhealthy lifestyles.

Professor Tim Lang, the report’s main author, told BBC News: “When we go shopping, I don’t think we really recognise the enormous impact our food is having on the environment. It… has an impact on our health, the energy use, how we get there - everything that matters is actually happening beyond our control, but government’s got to get grip of that.”

Interesting data outlined in the report includes:

IMPACT OF FOOD

5.2m tonnes of food-related packaging generated each year in the UK
6.7m tonnes of food waste created each year by UK homes
Agriculture globally consumes 70% of all freshwater for human use
Proportion of men classified as obese has increased from 13% to 22% in UK
Economic cost of obesity to the UK economy estimated at £10bn a year

Source: Sustainable Development Commission, courtesy of www.bbc.co.uk

On a related note, Cadbury’s have announced a plan to cut down on the packaging used for their Easter eggs this year - an initiative which they claim will save 247 tonnes of plastic and 115 tonnes of cardboard. This is part of a plan to reduce the environmental footprint of the company by 50%.