A WEYMOUTH business owner is hoping to change habits in the town after a documentary revealed a ‘shocking’ waste of food.

Lara Shephard, of Wise Buys on Lynch Lane, wants to get in touch with farmers and food producers to buy and sell the food deemed ‘too ugly’ for supermarket shelves.

The idea came after she watched a documentary on TV chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's War on Waste.

The BBC show is hosted by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, who owns River Cottage, near Axminster, and explores how and why a third of food grown in the UK is wasted.

Lara said: “It is simply shocking. The amount of food that is being thrown away is just devastating.
“As someone whose business is all about helping people who are struggling financially, I thought there has to be a way we can do something.”

Lara wants to hear from anyone who wants to sell fruit, vegetables and produce that cannot be sold elsewhere.

“There is nothing wrong with, say a courgette or carrot that is ‘ugly’. They still have the same vitamins and minerals that your body needs.

“Perhaps you would struggle to cut up an odd-shaped potato to roast, but you could put it in a stew or soup.”

Lara believes that there is no reason people would not buy ‘ugly’ fruit and vegetables.

“I think you have to be sensible about it. No-one is going to buy a bent courgette if it’s the same price and put on the shelf next to an all-singing, all dancing, perfect courgette.

“But if they were on sale at a low price, that would help local families who are struggling, whether they are on benefits or a low wage. It saves them money and it saves food going to waste.”

Lara added that she wished the documentary had highlighted how products can still be eaten after their best before dates.

“Best before is about quality, not safety. It’s a shame because lots of food is thrown away that is perfectly safe to eat.

“We all need to pull together, use our initiative and be more creative in how we can tackle the issue of waste.”

A Government report showed that between them, Asda, Co-operative Food, M&S, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s and Tesco threw away 200,000 tonnes of food in 2013.

Domestically, wasted food costs on every family in the UK £470 a year. We bin around seven million tonnes of food a year – more than half of which can be eaten.

Contact Lara by emailing info@wisebuysweymouth.co.uk or calling 07812 349792.

Hugh’s War on Waste can be viewed on BBC iPlayer.