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Produced in Kent has just teamed up with the popular, ‘Love Food Hate Waste’ campaign to create a brand new award for Kent – the ‘Love Food Hate Waste Award’.

The brand new, independent award will seek to find the company that shows the greatest commitment to reducing food wastage within their operation and the prestigious accolade will be presented to the winning company at the Taste of Kent Awards 2009 ceremony, at Leeds Castle on 26 February 2010.

As Julie Monkman manager of Produced in Kent and organisers of the Taste of Kent Awards explained, “We’re looking for a business that loves food so much that they can’t bear to see it mismanaged or wasted!  We’re specifically looking for a business that actively makes a difference to food waste no matter how big or small their operation. An independent panel of judges is in search of the organisation that is actively trying to make a difference in this important area of food wastage reduction, resource management and environmental protection.”

‘Love Food Hate Waste’ is a national campaign run by WRAP (Waste Resources Action Programme), a government organisation which has been adopted by the Kent Waste Partnership (which in itself is a joint partnership between Kent County Council and the 12 District Councils in Kent).

The Kent Waste Partnership has been working hard to reduce food waste in Kent for a number of years and has helped put the food wastage issue at the top of the agenda in the ‘Garden of England’. The Kent-based ‘Love Food Hate Waste’ campaign has been designed to reduce the amount of food that is thrown away, an initiative which will ultimately save Kent residents up to £50 a month on their food bill, as well as minimising the damage caused to the environment. For more information about the campaign visit www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/kent

As Julie Monkman explained, “Approximately one third of the food we buy in the UK is thrown away and most of this is perfectly suitable for consumption. In addition, food waste is also one of the UK’s biggest contributors to climate change and if we stop wasting food that is still suitable for consumption; the saving on carbon emissions would be the equivalent to taking one in four cars off UK roads. At Produced in Kent we have always championed the benefits of maintaining a thriving local farming and retail community to reduce our communal carbon footprint and reducing food waste is an absolutely vital part of this process.”