Editor: When mince pies signal insanity, not happy months

Food Works is a charity which takes on food that there is nothing wrong with, other than the supermarkets don’t want it any more. Sometimes it is just past its date and at other times it just doesn’t fit the seasonal look.

It is crazy how much wasted food there is and it is fantastic that we have a charity which is dedicated to saving it, while making sure families in poverty can also access cheap, healthy food through the same mechanisms.

But what kind of world are we living in when shops cater for such a tiny minority that they dump festive food in October? It arrived even before the tons of excess Halloween pumpkins. It really makes me so mad, sad and frustrated at what enormous businesses are allowed to get away with – all while claiming they want to help the environment.

That is why The Star’s weekly Food and Drink pages are slightly different from what most magazines and newspapers offer. We want you to eat incredible delights, we would love you to support your local cafes and restaurants but we want to challenge how you do that by always looking at the wider picture.

What we eat impacts on our own health but also unnecessarily damages the planet. It doesn’t have to be that way and we don’t have to just go along with what the multinationals demand. In fact, there are scores of organisations and groups in Sheffield doing things differently. This city thrives on being unique and there is nothing more fundamental than food.

Mince pies aside, I’m not normally a fan of Christmas arriving before December. Today, the first day of advent, is more than early enough for me and my tree won’t be up for a while yet.

But I haven’t minded the sparkling lights and festive trees which popped up through November at all this year. After the disaster that was December 25, 2020, let’s squeeze in as much joy as we can. Eat, drink, be merry and look after yourself as well as each other and our world.