Insight into working with Feedback

Samiyah Talukdar spent 7 days with Feedback throughout February and March 2018. 

I walked into my work experience with Feedback with minimal knowledge on the issue of food waste and the environmental issues surrounding it, and, 8 weeks later, I’m leaving with a handful of new skills and a tremendous amount of knowledge that will shape my future. I thus urge young people to also take up work experience with Feedback, as the knowledge and experience they will gain is one that will stick with them for a long time.

Food waste is a prominent issue across the globe that I have unconsciously contributed to; I would throw away food once it has reached its best before date and I would even refuse to eat questionable looking ‘odd shaped’ food. Through my own actions I have, without ever realising, become part of the problem which Feedback champions in raising awareness of.

I am not alone in my actions, as there are many young people such as myself who are unaware of the way in which our actions become part of the wider food waste problem. The widely accepted practice to only eat specific ‘perfect’ shaped food and to throw away food before their best before dates is one of the main contributors to the fact that UK households throw away 7.3 million tonnes of food. Although it is a widely accepted norm that food should always look ‘presentable’, this norm should be challenged, and it is down to us to do so.

My work experience with Feedback as aforementioned has enhanced my knowledge of food waste, but Feedback have also introduced me to numerous important environmental issues, such as the importance of a sustainable diet. This is the idea of having a diet that is nutritionally adequate whilst also being as environmentally friendly as possible; this includes the notion of being waste free. This has benefitted me personally as I am actively seeking to change my own dietary habits.

I thus implore young people to become more involved with Feedback, whether it be through work experience or joining their projects such as the Gleaning Network.

This placement was organised as part of Centre for Sustainable Energy’s Bright Green Future project which is an Our Bright Future Project. Feedback is keen to host work experience students aged 16-24 as part of its Our Bright Future work.