Will the younger generation fix our waste, recycling & food problems?

It was really interesting to see that news about the amount of packaging that cannot be recycled directed at kids on BBC Newsround. 10 years ago this kind of news item would be for Mums and shoppers.

It is brilliant to see the younger generation getting angry, influencing their parents, and in the digital age, taking world wide action, like extinction rebellion, school strikes, and climate change marches.

Politicians must realise that these ‘activists’ will soon be voting and should take action!

To me it is incredibly irresponsible of big businesses to continue to pack food & drink in mixed packaging that cannot be recycled. And equally lax for supermarkets not to segregate ‘good’ packaging from ‘bad’.

It is quite extraordinary how slow governments react to these issues and how many scientific studies have to be completed before action is taken. A great example of this is micro plastics in the oceans covered by BBC Life Scientific here.

At BigBarn we see the solution is obvious, we must:

1. Get Food Growing, Cooking, Nutrition & Environment on the school curriculum and help schools become the centre of the food community. More about this in a previous blog here.

2. Avoid the supermarkets and buy fresh local ingredients, without packaging, from local producers and retailers, and cook!

This is why we are constantly developing and growing our Local Food Map as an alternative to the supermarket. And working with schools that already grow food and have added it to their curriculum to measure their amazing results both to the children and parents.

If you agree please sign our petition here or use our Local Food Map here to find plastic free fresh food.