‘Parliament throws 45,000 meals in the bin while 70,000 London kids go hungry’ – Labour MP

Parliament wasted 45,000 meals last year as tens of thousands of children go hungry across London, an MP has said.

New figures that reveal the staggering amount of food waste in the British parliament have prompted calls for MPs to donate their unused meals to those in need.

Shadow Commons Leader Chris Bryant called on the government to give uneaten meals to local food banks in the capital.

“Last year 1.2 million sausages were sent to landfill in Rhondda Cynon Taf alone, which is why it is great that the local council is now signing everybody up to proper food recycling,” the Welsh Labour MP said.

“But new figures show that this House last year wasted 45,000 meals that were just tipped in the bin.

“With 33 Trussell Trust food banks within the M25 and an estimated 70,000 children in London going to bed hungry each night, would it not be time for the leader to institute a new scheme to donate unused food from this palace to local London food banks?”

Tory Leader of the House Chris Grayling criticized Bryant on his claim that 1.2 million sausages were being sent to landfill in his Welsh constituency.

If so many sausages are being wasted in Rhondda Cynon Taf, perhaps Bryant should consider “starting slightly closer to home” in tackling food waste.

In France, MPs recently passed a law banning supermarkets from throwing away unsold but still edible food.

Under the new legislation, large supermarkets – those measuring 400 square meters or more – will be forced to give any unsold, but still edible, goods to charities which can serve it to those less fortunate. This includes products that were packaged wrongly or damaged, or past a recommended use-by date but are not dangerous to eat.