I totally agree, it’s all bonkers. Something has really got to change.
Picking just this one example, but it applies to all, I think that to some extent consumers are to blame (though which came first the chicken or egg is another matter) - some seem not to want veg in the first place, and will only go for if if it is as “sanitised” as possible, no touching, no dirt, etc, therefore only picking the things that are pre-packaged. Personally I simply buy which is the cheapest - which almost invariably is the loose stuff, saving the pocket as well as reducing plastic usage.
On a more serious side, maybe some people literally expect food to be sanitised, as in sterile, so not wanting, say, an apple that may have been touched by someone else. Now, maybe I am foolhardy, and this said despite having been involved professionally for many years with helping ensure food safety, I never bother washing an apple before eating, despite buying loose. Having said that, I cannot remember the last time I had a stomach upset, regarding mine as ‘cast iron’ - and I wonder to what extent these two facts are linked: Our immune systems need to have challenge to develop immunity, and attempts to make everything sterile as some people do may be putting themselves, and especially their children with still-developing immune systems, at risk.
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Quite agree, the ‘clean environment’ is one hypothesis behind the alarming rise in childhood allergies.
As for washing fruit and veg, I rarely do either, though I’d rather not ingest the myriad of chemicals that might be sprayed on the crops - I often take a punnet of strawberries to work and polish them off but there’s nowhere close to wash them first (pick them up en route not from fridge) - in fact most packaged fruits/veg usually says to wash first, but I wish they’d make it clear why - is it because they think handlers/pickers in distant lands (or locally) may have grubby hands or is it because of chemicals? Whatever the reason I can’t see a quick splash of water really removing more than a trace of any sprayed chemicals - wouldn’t that need a soak and a scrub? Makes you wonder.
A few months ago I picked up a net of lemons in Tesco - the packaging explicitly mentioned a couple of chemicals used in production which didn’t sound very appetising without further research so I left them where they were - perhaps this is why they don’t list pesticides etc.
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Our local one went live a couple of years ago - I don’t know enough about the technology in all honesty, initial reaction being incineration must be bad from an historical perspective.
https://viridor.co.uk/our-operations/energy/energy-recovery-facilities/cardiff-erf/
In addition to keeping 95% of local waste from landfill and generating power for 50,000 homes I gather they are looking at a scheme to heat water for local houses and council/public buildings.
It all sounds a bit too good to be true, and they must be making a penny or two for it to be viable.
I’d never even considered this - do we have such a disconnect from food production now that younger consumers wouldn’t buy veg with a bit of earth on it? Remember when spuds used to be caked with soil and lasted as they rarely sprouted or photosynthesised turning green protected by the earth around them?
Its not too good to be true, its all about maximising efficiency & scale.
Obviously they charge local authorities for the service & that is ultimately down to your & me & our local taxes. I understand the cost over time is equal or less than that of landfill & its management.
However that is not the only revenue stream, power generation & the sale of the various solid by-products are significant.
The cost of the process is reduced by economy of scale over numbers of different process plants. Add to that the value of in-house expertise gained from research & development & selling on that know-how.
Yes, as part of the population - and the term ‘younger’ does not only mean young… Hopefully the emphasis on reducing waste, and the popularity of cooking programmes on TV, may mean the tide is turning.
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Indeed.
But the scale of use is fairly critical - and, pertinent to the title of this thread, there is one near me that struggled to receive enough refuse from domestic sources once recycling was brought in, and as a result although it does generate some surplus electricity, the amount is disappointingly small. Some critics say it was a wasted opportunity because the piping of its surplus heat to a housing estate less than a mile away was rejected at the time on cost grounds. However, the company running it isn’t exactly struggling to survive - to coin an old phrase, “where there’s muck, there’s brass”.
And a valid one IMHO.
My sister used to pick up used chewing gum stuck to the road and chew it. Recyling at it’s best 
I only wash apples if they feel a bit sticky and even then it’s a splash of cold water and a tea towel.
When I used to go fishing as a kid I’d often put maggots between my lips while I tied the hook on. Then once casted out I’d put my hand in the bait box, grab a handful of maggots to chuck in and then get the butties out 
No wonder kids have allergies as soon as they leave their sterile environment. Get some bugs down you!
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My dad used to put woodlice in jam sandwiches when he was a lad. He lived to 94 and never had a serious illness. I’m not sure many would be willing to adopt the woodlouse diet in order to test the hypothesis that eating them has positive health benefits.
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One thing I’ve seen recently that annoyed me was in the works fridge. An apple, cut into pieces and sealed in a plastic wrapper. It came from Sainsbury’s.
Whoever dreamt up that little caper in their food packaging dept., needs hanging upside down by their meat n two veg. As do the people who buy such nonsense…!
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More money than sense probably (the purchaser).
I had a colleague from the UK who worked in Amsterdam 10 years ago, always bought a sliced apple packaged in plastic and brought a big box of Weetabix to the office every day.
This is vaguely about recycling, so please bear with me. I took some of my better half’s clothes to the local hospice shop. In the bag was a bra, in good condition and washed of course. When I asked if they actually wanted it, they explained that while they couldn’t sell it, they send them to India for young girls to wear. Since this project has started, the incidence of rape on young girls has reduced. I think that is rather wonderful, so I thought I’d pass it on. If any of you have superseded bras in your house, don’t throw them away.
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I found that wifey had put a full shrink wrapped cucumber in the compost bin 
. FFS, why wrap a vegetable in plastic in the first place? Probably some silly health regulation.
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Wifey? Is it 1960?
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No, neither Rae or myself are that old. She’s a farm girl, so not to precious about such things, it’s just our kiwi slang.
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My local supermarket, Morrisons has started selling unwrapped cucumbers alongside shrink wrapped cucumbers. For some strange reason, the au naturel offerings are nearly always soft and floppy while their plastic encased brethren are firm. Rather defeats the objective 
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We should be careful to differentiate between plastic film and cellophane, the latter made from renewable wood fibre and therefore compostable. For the UK crowd, much of the world’s cellophane is made in Wigton, Cumbria.
Better than ‘The Wife’. A chap at work uses this all the time and it annoys the hell out of all of us.
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