Can you have your plate and eat it?

The Food Chain

• Episode: Can you have your plate and eat it?
• Website: The Food Chain
• Feed URL: https://podcasts.files.bbci.co.uk/p028z2z0.rss
• Duration: 00:26:40
• Published: 2019-11-07 04:00

The food industry has a big problem with packaging, but what if you could simply eat your wrapper or coffee cup instead of throwing it away?

Could packaging made from food ingredients prevent our oceans and landfill sites from being clogged with waste, much of it plastic? Could it still preserve and protect our food from damage or spoiling? And does it taste any good?

Emily Thomas speaks to two companies developing edible products - one producing plates, cups and bowls, the other making a protective coating for fruit -to find out whether edible packaging is really a clever solution to some serious environmental problems, or just a marketing gimmick.

And a food futurologist explains why we're all likely to see more food-based packaging on our supermarket shelves, and how that could change the way we eat and shop.

(Picture: A woman pretending to eat a plate. Credit: Getty/BBC)