Change in law banning pre-packed fruit and vegetables at supermarkets - WTAF

[gentlegreen]

This is a super annoying bit of greenwashing that'll put me off buying salad...

Pre-packed fruit and vegetables will soon no longer be available at supermarkets in the UK. Compulsory laws are set to come into force to help Brits reduce food waste and these will impact all the major supermarkets, including Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda, Aldi and Lidl.

It means fruit and veg soon can't be pre-packed and instead, customers must pick loose produce to buy. This is in place at most supermarkets already but will become mandatory.

MSN

www.msn.com

 

[planetgeli]

Er...what's wrong with getting rid of unnecessary packaging?

 

[emanymton]

Er...what's wrong with getting rid of unnecessary packaging?

The article is garbled it is not clear if it is talking about food waste or plastic waste. This might reduce the amount of plastic waste but it will increase food waste and/or put people of buying fresh fruit and veg.

 

[skyscraper101]

This is a super annoying bit of greenwashing that'll put me off buying salad...

MSN

www.msn.com

All my salad items are already bought loose, I think? Except for the baby plum tomatoes which are in a box wrapped in cellophane, and croutons which aren't veg anyway. What pre-packed items are going to be massively impacted by this?

 

[planetgeli]

I read it that it will reduce plastic waste and in turn reduce food waste because a customer will be able to buy eg one pepper instead of having to buy 3. This already happens with peppers btw.

Why will it put people off buying fruit and veg? We never had plastic wrapped bananas in the 70s and before and nobody was put off buying bananas then.

A lot of stores provide bags that can already be reused.

I really don't get the problem

 

[emanymton]

I read it that it will reduce plastic waste and in turn reduce food waste because a customer will be able to buy eg one pepper instead of having to buy 3. This already happens with peppers btw.

Why will it put people off buying fruit and veg? We never had plastic wrapped bananas in the 70s and before and nobody was put off buying bananas then.

A lot of stores provide bags that can already be reused.

I really don't get the problem

The article is not clear at all, so maybe I'm wrong, but if it affects bags of mixed salad that's the issue. I buy them as there is no way I'm getting through a while lettuce (or whatever) on my own.

 

[emanymton]

I read it that it will reduce plastic waste and in turn reduce food waste because a customer will be able to buy eg one pepper instead of having to buy 3. This already happens with peppers btw.

Why will it put people off buying fruit and veg? We never had plastic wrapped bananas in the 70s and before and nobody was put off buying bananas then.

A lot of stores provide bags that can already be reused.

I really don't get the problem

Sorry, also I expect most of the reusable bags go in the bin anyway.

 

[Agent Sparrow]

The article is not clear at all, so maybe I'm wrong, but if it affects bags of mixed salad that's the issue. I buy them as there is no way I'm getting through a while lettuce (or whatever) on my own.

Also the bags have some variety of leaves as opposed to just one type of lettuce. Tbf there are some things that could definitely be packaging free, like shrink wrapped broccoli or two avocados put together in plastic. And others that could easily go in paper bags, eg cherry tomatoes.

 

[nogojones]

The article is not clear at all, so maybe I'm wrong, but if it affects bags of mixed salad that's the issue. I buy them as there is no way I'm getting through a while lettuce (or whatever) on my own.

A whole lettuce lasts a lot longer that all those cut up leaves and it's much better value as it's bigger/heavier. I'd only ever buy one of those bags if they're around the 20p pricepoint in the reductions.

Don't open the Pandora's box of pre-chopped and bagged greens!

 

[gentlegreen]

Especially post-covid I don't like buying stuff handled and spat on by randoms - I am squeamish about the red cabbage I buy and habitually compost the outer leaves - even though I boil the cabbage... I don't wash broccoli sprouts, kale (or scrape carrots unless they've gone a bit funny in the fridge...)

Bananas come with their own wrapping - apples and pears don't - I know I should wash them, but I don't.
I go through phases of buying romaine lettuce and would hate to have to start washing and then draining it.

I always figure the delay between the packing plant and when I get it home is sufficient triage.
I avoid "organic" produce anyway which hopefully minimises persistent bacteria like e-coli ...

 

[skyscraper101]

My OH likes those bags of lettuce. Especially the ones with shredded beetroot in them. They do seem a bit wasteful to me and don't last long at all. I just buy an actual lettuce that seems to last ages.

 

[Peter Painter]

I just buy an actual lettuce that seems to last ages.

.
Or at least longer than a Truss...

 

[gentlegreen]

But how is this going to work ?
All the queuing up as people weigh veggies... (perhaps emulating "Hello Fresh")
No self-fill bags and bar-coded stickers from the scale when I put 2 kilos of sprouts in a bag - so weighing at the till ?
I find it convenient to have my sprouts in multiple 500g dated bags in the fridge and just chuck a whole bag in the pot.

 

[May Kasahara]

People on the continent seem to manage.

 

[gentlegreen]

People on the continent seem to manage.

They also squeeze everything before they buy it.

And what about the two large plastic punnets of wonky mushrooms I buy. ?
At the moment I put my minimal veggie peelings and coffee grounds in the empties and chuck it on the garden on the way to the recycling box...

 

[skyscraper101]

People on the continent seem to manage.

And the fruit and veg generally taste nicer too.

 

[lazythursday]

This seems like a positive idea but very much depends on the details - and while this story seems to be in lots of newspapers today I can't find the actual proposal anywhere.

I'm more than happy to buy most things loose - eg a pepper, or carrots - but things that are small or delicate, like say rocket - I'd be wary of. I don't want there being any possibility of gluten contamination from some twat munching a pastry, for example.

 

[skyscraper101]

They also squeeze everything before they buy it.

And what about the two large plastic punnets of wonky mushrooms I buy. ?
At the moment I put my minimal veggie peelings and coffee grounds in the empties and chuck it on the garden on the way to the recycling box...

I do that here with things like Avocados and Kiwis etc. I'm failing to see how things like plastic punnets cannot be replaced by biodegradable alternatives tbh. It's only that clear plastic is more aesthetically pleasing, and that's a matter of opinion.

 

[iona]

I doubt bagged salad mixes will be affected because you can't really sell those loose the way you can with apples or cucumbers or whatever. The article linked in the OP already says there will be exemptions for some stuff like soft fruit.

I grow and sell veg, including salad mixes, and we've been thinking of trying something like having a big tub of each mix in the fridge for people to weigh into their own container but that's for a small farm campsite shop where a lot of the time people are just buying food for the meal they're about to cook next door.

Most other things are perfectly possible though. I eat loads of fruit and veg and I hardly ever buy stuff that comes in plastic and haven't done for years.

 

[Elpenor]

If you’re that worried about it get a veg box delivered, better quality, less packaging, likely to be organic and fewer people in the supply chain to spit on.

You’d definitely need to wash the veg though

 

[xenon]

Good. All that cellophane, those plastic trays. Annoying crap to get rid of. I don’t imagine you will have to pick out individual spinach leaves though.

 

[Agent Sparrow]

People on the continent seem to manage.

Yes, the more I think about it, the more I think it’s possible in store. Any problems I envisage personally are more due to online supermarket shopping.

 

[lazythursday]

The only thing I generally buy pre packaged are salad, green beans and mushrooms, I think. Sometimes things like plastic bags of root veg if they're on offer but I generally go for loose.

I'd be interested to see the breakdown of packaging by aisle though. As it seems to me there is a huge attention on fruit and veg and very little on the aisles completely full of single use plastic - eg fizzy drinks, or worst of all, the toiletries aisle which is just plastic central.

Then again, you do have to look at the life cycle impacts of packaging sensibly - eg glass seems good because it can be recycled easily, but only through enormous use of energy.

 

[Agent Sparrow]

I do that here with things like Avocados and Kiwis etc. I'm failing to see how things like plastic punnets cannot be replaced by biodegradable alternatives tbh. It's only that clear plastic is more aesthetically pleasing, and that's a matter of opinion.

Sainsburys pre-packed tomatoes have been in a cardboard punnet for ages. Still covered in plastic mind, but less plastic.

 

[Agent Sparrow]

There are disability related factors to consider for some things, ie pre-chopped vegetables…

 

[xenon]

Also the bags have some variety of leaves as opposed to just one type of lettuce. Tbf there are some things that could definitely be packaging free, like shrink wrapped broccoli or two avocados put together in plastic. And others that could easily go in paper bags, eg cherry tomatoes.

I much prefer paper bags. For things like mushrooms. Delays deliquescence. But Read somewhere they’re not necessary actually less impactful environmentally.

 

[Monkeygrinder's Organ]

Sounds good to me. Any environmental legislation always brings howls of 'what about my minor inconvenience' but I can't see any genuine major issues here tbh.

 

[SpookyFrank]

Plenty of other countries manage without anything like the amount of plastic shite our food comes in.

 

[iona]

There are disability related factors to consider for some things, ie pre-chopped vegetables…

I'd imagine those would be classed differently as there's been some level of preparation gone into them and again, the packaging isn't unnecessary for say a bag of chopped onions whereas whole onions can easily be sold loose without plastic packaging.

 

[gentlegreen]

I much prefer paper bags. For things like mushrooms. Delays deliquescence. But Red somewhere they’re not necessary actually less impactful environmentally.

I buy 1.3 kilos of mushrooms at a time....