Smell it, don't bin it: One man's crusade against expiry dates

“Smell it, smell it, use your eyes and use your nose! If we’ve not descended far enough from the trees to know when something smells off, then something’s gone wrong.”

***Thorney member, setting the record straight***

James, a 76-year-old retired engineer is not one to shy away from sharing his opinions. His remarkable life experience contributes to his no-nonsense, highly informed perspective on many subjects but one in particular gets him hot under the collar, food waste. A topic close to our own hearts.

Though he’s sometimes called “Jimmy,” James is quick to set the record straight. After precisely "50 years, 9 months and 13 days" in engineering across the Merchant Navy, Army, and food production industries, he has some things to say, “I’ve seen avocados from Israel dumped, grapes from South America dumped, leeks from Egypt dumped,” he says, “Flown in from across the world, only to be thrown away.”

Throughout his working life, James has seen first-hand, a system riddled with contradictions: importing produce thousands of miles only to discard it for cosmetic reasons, marketing trends, or arbitrary expiration dates. For James, this isn’t just poor logistics, it’s a moral and environmental failure. The carbon footprint left by such waste is staggering, and for someone who’s spent his life understanding systems, it simply doesn’t add up.

“I've worked in every single stage of food production, from growing, repairing the actual machines in the field, all the way through production, boiling, chopping, etc. The people who produce the hot food are contractually bound by legislation not to sell a roast chicken. If the computer goes ping, it must be destroyed. They are contractually obliged by law to bend that.”

One of his most provocative ideas? Scrap sell-by dates entirely.

“If we’ve not descended far enough from the trees to know when something smells off, then something’s gone wrong,” he jokes, only half in jest. Should ‘smell by dates’ be a thing? This is a nod to our lost confidence in basic food sense.

He may have retired but this doesn’t stop James doing his own research on current waste solutions such as anaerobic and aerobic digestion. In case you’re wondering, these techniques are used to break down organic waste and produce methane gas. While these methods are marketed as environmentally friendly, James is not so sure. “Yes, it’s energy,” he says, “but it’s still burning, still releasing CO2 – and that’s before we talk about carcinogens.” For James, the real solution lies in avoiding waste in the first place: getting edible food to people, not processing it for fuel.

But James’s story is not only about systems and sustainability. It’s also about people, purpose and ageing with intention. Basically, he likes to keep busy, very busy! He does by tending to his allotment, volunteering with Bread and Butter at our Thorney hub and wrestling with the endless red tape and admin that many pensioners face. He speaks candidly about how difficult it can be to stay financially afloat after retirement, navigating tax codes, limited pensions, and feeling unseen in systems not designed with older people in mind.

“With my part time job and state pension, I have crept into having to pay tax and national insurance and it's going to rise as well, and the pension threshold, which is £12,500 a year. Every time they increase the pension, your state pension goes over the minimum and pensions will be taxed and that is criminal.”

James has also observed that different generations have very different attitudes towards food habits. Older people, raised with rationing or post-war frugality, often make do with slightly bruised fruit or tins well past their prime. Younger generations, are more likely to discard food that doesn’t meet aesthetic or labelled standards. This is a real reflection of convenience, the vast array of food that’s too readily available and a growing disconnect from food’s true value.

Listen to James’s podcast right here.