Today, a third of the food produced worldwide goes to waste. Climate activists regularly urge us to think before we throw perfectly good food in the bin, while the UN’s target of 2030 to halve global food waste is fast approaching. But how did our food system become so wasteful? How was food waste understood by our ancestors, and what can this history tell us about past experiences and values more widely?
From the Tudor kitchen right up to the present day, my new book, , explores the ingenious ways in which our forebears sought to prevent food from going to waste – by preserving it, reusing leftovers in creative dishes, and recycling any uneaten
