Talking about food waste. I got chatting to a gent recently who was brought up in Skelmersdale ( now known locally as Old Skem after the new town development was built ), during World War 2.
I asked him about a story I had heard on the radio about twenty years ago, about a massive quantity (20 million is what I recall being the figure), of eggs sent from the USA by Atlantic Convoy during the war and then dumped down a disused coal mine in Skelmersdale as they had gone off. Whether this was all one cargo, dried eggs in bulk or fresh eggs, I gave no thought to at the time. Anyway I asked this chap if he knew of the story, he told me that he did and indeed used to watch eggs and other food ( presumably rotten) being dumped after being brought by train from Liverpool docks; he said you could see the entrance being totally full one day and by the next it had totally disappeared underground. Apparently the dumping of the eggs was kept secret for reasons of public morale at the time (my memory from the radio broadcast).
Has anyone else on here heard of this story ?
Trying to find some mention of this on-line, I also came upon a good detailed article about wartime food rationing which may be of interest (did you know for instance, eggs keep longer out of the fridge if you coat them with lard to seal the pores).
The way he described the site - next to a large local car dismantlers, led me to believe it was hereabouts, side by side OS map and current aerial view showing the mine shaft and railway lines (long gone) positions .
https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/side-by ... =ESRIWorld
https://www.cooksinfo.com/british-wartime-food/
It wouldn't surprise me if there was as much food wasted out of the backs of supermarkets (if it's not claimed by a local food bank charitys) as from domestic settings.