My food and drinks column for the October issue of Reader’s Digest.

According to the climate change organisation WRAP (Waste & Resource Action Programme), approximately 9.5 million tonnes of food goes to waste every year in the UK. Those staggering numbers are especially disturbing if you consider that nearly three-quarters of that food (6.4 million tonnes) was perfectly suitable for consumption. Curbing food waste would not only reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by roughly 10%, but the food that ends up in landfills could potentially feed up to two billion people.

With the advent of autumn and Halloween right around the corner, I can’t help but think about all of those handsome pumpkins that will mercilessly get discarded after they’ve served as festive jack o’ lanterns by our front door or as part of our indoor decor, adding seasonal colour to a mantlepiece or dining room table.

Read the full column, published in the October issue of Reader’s Digest UK, here: 126-129 (1)