Orkney businesses invited to take part in Food Waste Prevention week

Folk in Orkney are being urged to keep up the fight against food waste, with a number of local organisations joining forces from next Monday to promote Food Waste Prevention week.

Orkney is one of four communities which were selected by Zero Waste Scotland to benefit from free training and events touring Scotland as part of the campaign, which takes place from January 22 to 25.

In Orkney, Zero Waste Scotland have joined forces with Orkney Islands Council, Resource Efficient Scotland, Orkney Food & Drink and Orkney Zero Waste to deliver a series of training and events, demonstrations and a webinar.

The events are mainly aimed at the local business community, however some are also open to the general public with all the events are free to attend.

The week kicks off with a webinar introducing innovative food sharing platform OLIO, which has been specially selected to help businesses in Orkney to stop throwing surplus food in the bin and distribute it to the local community and local charities instead. The webinar will be broadcast live at 3pm next Monday, January 22, with the recording available to watch soon after.

Orkney businesses are then invited to join a half-day food waste prevention workshop on the January 24 to develop skills to tackle food waste in their organisations. The workshop will be held at the Pickaquoy Centre, Kirkwall, from 10am until 12:30 noon.

Attendees will hear about local businesses that have reaped the benefits of successfully reduced waste. They will also find out about the free support that the Resource Efficient Scotland programme provides to help enterprises become more efficient.

Other activities include a ‘Love Your Haggis’ cookery demonstration and tasting session in Kirkwall, on 23 January from 7pm to 9pm. The session, which is open to the public, will provide tips to help Orcadians make the most of the food in their fridge, freezer and cupboards, plus a Burns Night-themed cookery demonstration with a chance to try a few tasty treats.

Iain Gulland, Chief Executive, Zero Waste Scotland, added: “We are delighted to bring the Food Waste Prevention Roadshow to Orkney to help local businesses cut the cost of waste, while doing their bit for the environment. Food waste can have a big cost for businesses, but with research suggesting that up to 75 per cent of this could be avoided, handling food more efficiently can unlock big savings.

“For Orkney businesses that have done all they can to prevent food waste, we’re particularly excited to be able to introduce the opportunity of redistributing surplus, edible food to those who can use it.”

“I’m encouraging all business owners or managers looking to boost their profits in the New Year to come along to these beneficial events.”

For more information, or to register for the workshops, click here or phone 0808 808 2268.