A recent report from TradeWaste has indicated that an estimate of 1,512 tonnes of pumpkin waste will be binned this week in Leeds alone (the same weight as 13,000 Donald Trumps, or 7 Statues of Liberty), with the UK sending a total of 12.6 million pumpkins to landfill. 

While some may take comfort in the idea of Halloween revelers embracing the spooky spirit despite the current pandemic, one must question the implications of the holiday when it brings with it food waste on such a high scale. A report from the Guardian has attributed a large amount of the waste to cynicism regarding the edibility of the pumpkin, with 42% of Halloweeners unaware that the pumpkin’s humble interior can be eaten. 

This news arrives just 2 weeks after MPs rejected footballer Marcus Rashford’s plea to extend the plan for free school meals over the holidays. Leeds’ pumpkin waste consists of around 1.5 million pumpkins – enough pumpkin for 9108 servings of BBC GoodFood’s pumpkin soup.  

Featured image via Huffington Post.