Giant food sculptures appear on South Bank calling on the Prime Minister to ‘face up to food waste’

Giant food sculptures have appeared on London’s South Bank to call on the Prime Minister Boris Johnson to ‘face up to food waste’.

The three temporary structures, created by the Surplus food app Too Good To Go, feature giant sculptures of potatoes, milk and bread – three of the UK’s most wasted food items.

The company hopes to raise awareness of food waste and encourage Londoners to sign a petition urging the government to add it to the COP26 agenda.

Every year, the United Nations holds a global climate change conference known as a COP which stands for ‘Conference of the Parties’.

This year marks the 26th anniversary, giving it the name COP26, and the conference starts this weekend in Glasgow.

Currently 40 per cent of all food is wasted globally, meaning food waste food waste is responsible for 10 per cent of all greenhouse gas emissions – more than aviation (2.5 per cent), plastics (3.8 per cent) and deforestation (2.2 per cent) combined.

According to Too Good To Go, the government has ignored the impact of food waste on the environment despite putting legally binding regulations in place for aviation, plastics and deforestation.

The company has launched a petition calling on the government to take the issue more seriously by making food waste and food systems part of the agenda at COP26 and enshrining into law a 50 per cent reduction of food waste by 2030, as part of the UK’s Net Zero ambitions.

Jamie Crummie, co-founder of Too Good To Go, said: “It’s staggering that despite all the research to prove that food waste is causing climate change, it’s nowhere to be seen on the government’s agenda for COP26 or beyond.

“When you compare this to other climate issues like plastics, deforestation and aviation which are all getting the due attention they deserve, it begs the question: why isn’t food wasted taken as seriously?”

“Our hope is that this installation will kickstart some long overdue conversations about our global food waste crisis and inspire the government to step up by establishing tangible and concrete solutions in law, before it’s too late.”

Photo credit: Mark Kerrison