Food and Drink: Waste Prevention

Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb Excerpts

Wednesday 17th June 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park [V]]

I very much note my noble friend’s comments and share his hope that we will be able to return to normal as soon as possible. Neither I nor the Government underestimate the value of the pub sector, not only to our economy but to our communities, for all the reasons the noble Lord has described. When we are likely to relax the lockdown restrictions in all such sectors is under permanent review.

[Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (GP) [V]]

My Lords, the whole food industry has obviously been disrupted by the coronavirus—we have seen millions of gallons of milk thrown away, as well as beer—so we have food shortages to look forward to. I note that the Minister said that he is working with WRAP, but how can we reduce food waste? That will be crucial.

[Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park [V]]

The noble Baroness raises a hugely important point. In relation to pubs, the focus of this exchange, we in government are trying hard to encourage the repurposing of spoiled beer. There are vast amounts of it, as I have described. Two obvious alternative options for the use of spoiled beer are animal feed—the Food Standards Agency has confirmed that it is safe and can be handled appropriately—and redirecting it to anaerobic digestion plants. Not all the plants are designed to accommodate spoiled beer, but many can. We are working closely with the UK Former Foodstuffs Processors Association, the Anaerobic Digestion and Bioresources Association and other government departments to ensure that this happens. Of course, the same principle applies to food across the board.