#WASTENOT

I was watching a documentary about food waste and by the end of it I was quite upset about the amount of unnecessary food waste we, as a country, have.

One of the things that I learnt was that tonnes and tonnes of fresh produce is rejected by supermarkets because it doesn't fit the cosmetic bill that supermarkets say customers are looking for. Due to this farmers who have spent time, energy, resources and rely on this income, have no choice but to throw perfectly edible food away. We're not talking a few boxes full we are talking hundreds and thousands of shopping trolleys full in just a week.

This really pains me, when we think about all those families who are really struggling to put food on the table for their children and loved ones, all the people who have to make massive sacrifices or go hungry just because the supermarkets won't sell a wonky carrot and so it is binned.

This is a hard one to tackle as it has become so normal for big companies to do this and because we as consumers don't have a direct connection with the people who grow our food, it feels like there's little we can do...I mean why would a multi-million or even a multi-billion pound company be bothered what the average layman has to say...what little old me has to say?

But I have a business plan...the plan probably isn't for me right now..but perhaps someday. Or maybe someone can use my idea to do something that will help us to waste less and help put food on more peoples' tables at a reasonably cheap cost.

People should get in touch with the farmers who have to throw away all this produce. They should then buy it off them at a reasonably cheap price and then go on to sell this to the public at less than supermarket prices. Initially they could perhaps sell on market stalls. Market stalls are inexpensive to hire out and every ones got to eat so food would sell. All you would need is a place to store the food and a van to transport it. Anything you can't sell can be donated to a local shelter.

That is my very simple plan...which has no copyright...we need to do this and we need to do it quickly. I'm sure I've over-simplified it but this squandering of our food supply can not and must not go on and maybe, just maybe once supermarkets have a drop in profits because of this, they'll decide a wonky carrot isn't such a bad thing after all.

#WASTENOT

It's all a guessing game...

So recently I had a baby and pretty soon realised how unequipped these little beings are to cope with the world.

Babies can't feed themselves - that's not too hard to wrap your head around, but nor can they burp on their own, fart or poo without help  (not my baby anyway,although it's improving), they find it hard to close their eyes and sleep, basically all the actions a human needs to perform in order to function as a human, this little human can't do...And as my husband so wonderfully put it - 'That's why they have parents.'

Of course we all know babies can't tell us what's wrong with them and that's when it all begins...

Having children is a guessing game...you just have to keep your fingers crossed that you've got it right and you're not just needlessly medicating your little bundle.

The only real way they have of communicating is crying. So they could be crying because (*big breath in and read in one go*) they're hungry, have tummy ache, too hot or cold, can't poo, can't fart, need to burp, want to sleep, want a cuddle and not to forget the 'just because'.

So when you have a crying baby these are all the possible things you can do in that instant-take their blanket off, give them a blanket, give them medicine, rub their tummy, rub their back, rock them, hold them, give them milk - you're bound to get it wrong most of the time...and still it's a wonder they get through it all without being able to say a word.

And so I now play the biggest guessing game I have ever played, wish me luck...hopefully my guessing gets more accurate.