Cluck

[ewx]

Half a million chickens every day? Can that really be right?

(...and the report itself, located by GDR.)

Comments

[the-local-echo.livejournal.com]

That's just under 1% of a chicken per person per day. So on average people each throw away enough bits of chicken to reconstitute one chicken every four months. Sounds a bit less surprising when you put it that way.

I skim-read the dead tree edition this lunchtime, and I think it said the study was done by examining people's rubbish, so catering waste wouldn't count towards it.

[lnr]

Except that we're all throwing away the bones, and only some of us are throwing away actual edible bits. Do they count 1.5 kilos of chicken bones as someone having thrown away a medium to large chicken? What else are we supposed to do with them?

And are they still counted as thrown out if they're composted? What if they're composted by the council (as in Cambridge) rather than by the person who would have otherwise eaten the chicken.

There's just not enough info.

Edit: Ah, I see Gareth has actually read the report and answered much of this.

Today I threw away 1/4 of a pork pie.

[ewx.livejournal.com]

“government researchers have established that most of the food waste is made up of completely untouched food products – whole chickens and chocolate gateaux that lie uneaten in cupboards and fridges before being discarded” suggests that the 1%/person/day model is not the explanation.

[lnr]

I wonder how many cakes are thrown out when someone decides they need to go on a diet...

[oldbloke.livejournal.com]

Anybody who throws away a whole chocolate gateau should be strung up from the nearest lamppost