Campaigners have ‘Pig Idea’ to recycle food waste

Campaigners are calling on people return to the age-old practice of feeding food waste to pigs. ‘Pig bins’ into which food waste was thrown were a common sight in canteens […]

Campaigners are calling on people return to the age-old practice of feeding food waste to pigs.

‘Pig bins’ into which food waste was thrown were a common sight in canteens and school across Britain as late as the 1990s. They were banned in 2001 following the foot and mouth crisis and in 2003 the ban was extended across the EU.

Waste campaigner Tristram Stuart and Thomasina Miers, co-founder of the Mexican food chain Wahaca, started the campaign, called ‘The Pig Idea’.

Speaking to the BBC Mr Stuart said: “As a result we import millions more tonnes of soya from South America and that increases demand for deforestation.”

“And of course on top of the environmental impact it puts additional strain on global food supplies… essentially our pigs in Europe are competing with people for food.”

Thomasina added: “Man and pig have been living in perfect harmony and synergy for thousands of years. Man creates waste; pig eats waste and turns it into food that we eat again. It is a perfect circle.”

The idea is not without critics. Some claim it would reduce the quality of meat and wouldn’t sit well with the public following the horsemeat scandal.

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