3. What is the Welsh Government doing to reduce food waste in Welsh households? OAQ(5)0373(FM)

Food waste in Welsh households has decreased by 12 per cent from 2009 to 2015. We as a Government fund the Waste and Resources Action Programme Cymru ‘Love Food, Hate Waste’ consumer campaign.

You’re right, First Minister, that food waste has reduced by 12 per cent, and it has saved 105 tonnes of carbon a year over that same period. However, even with that 12 per cent reduction, there has been 188,000 tonnes of food worth £70 million thrown away by Welsh households in 2015. Given that 50 per cent of that food waste comes from households, it is clear that reducing the amount of waste here will have a significant financial benefit for both individuals and for the environment. What is interesting going alongside that is that 60 per cent of people who were questioned thought that they were not wasting any food whatsoever. So, given those facts, First Minister, what do you think the Welsh Government could do in terms of at least educating people about the food that they are wasting to the tune of £35 million a year?

Well, I can say that the ‘Love Food, Hate Waste’ cascade training is available for communities and businesses. To date, WRAP Cymru have trained over 3,400 people in Wales and that helps consumers to make the most of the food that they buy. It’s a start. There’s more to do, but we can do more. We have already reduced the amount of food waste in Wales. Some 24,000 tonnes has been reduced so far. We know there’s further to go, but that work is now ongoing.

Of course, it’s not just households; it’s public services as well where this needs some attention. The Waste and Resources Action Programme, WRAP, which your Government funds, is now working with Abertawe Bro Morgannwg university health board to identify how to reduce food waste in hospitals. That’s one thing. But last week, ABMU confirmed that admissions to them from malnutrition were at their highest for five years. So, WRAP and ABMU can work together with other parties to identify and share good ideas—in fact, I’m hosting one of those Love Food Hate Waste advice sessions in Bridgend this Thursday; you may want to come—but do you think that food waste is just part of a bigger issue for Government and society, about nutrition and attitudes to food, which we need to take more seriously, rather than fragmented responses to things like obesity, packaging, nursing care, animal health, carbon footprint, and so on?

Part of the problem, of course, is that cheap food is not healthy food. For so many people, they’ve seen a squeeze on their income since the crash of 2008 and they will quite often say, ‘Well, I’d love to eat healthier food, but the reality is I can’t afford to.’ The Member’s right, it’s not just about targeting health issues, it’s about ensuring that people have the skills they need to get into the jobs they need to increase their incomes so they can eat healthier in the way that they would want to. And that’s precisely the way that this Government operates, looking at holistic solutions to issues rather than doing it via a compartmentalised formula.

Welsh Government support for the Tomorrow’s Valley project, based in Llwydcoed in my constituency, could see food waste providing enough power for 1,500 homes, by generating over 1 MW of green electricity. What interim evaluation has the Welsh Government made of this project?

Our priority is to reduce the amount of food waste, obviously, produced by households. We are working with the local authorities involved in the Tomorrow’s Valley hub to provide targeted campaign support to increase the amount of food waste that is captured by local authorities for recycling. Once completed, that campaign will be evaluated to determine its success by looking at the food waste recycling data.