EZINE Easter 2013 | Page 7

Eat Sustainably!

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"the first book to mention Easter eggs by name was written five hundred years ago"

Of course, the food most famously associated with Easter at present is the Easter egg, even though it plays almost no part in the celebrations of Mexico, South America and Native Indian cultures. Eggs have long believed to be a symbol of new life and rebirth; cultures such as ancient Egyptians and Persians believed that the world began as an enormous egg. However, the first book to mention Easter eggs by name was written five hundred years ago. The culture of colouring eggs at Easter was already carried out much earlier by a North African tribe that had become Christian. Eggs may also be associated with Easter because Christians abstain from eating meat during Lent, and so Easter was the first chance for them to enjoy eggs after the long abstinence.

"we have witnessed a decrease in the packaging used by companies with their Easter eggs"

Recently we have witnessed a decrease in the amount of packaging used by chocolate companies with their Easter eggs. In 2009, packaging was cut by 25% and in some cases by as much as 50%. This initiative was set up to reduce the 3,000 tonnes of chocolate egg packaging generated every year in the UK. This would mean that there would be less plastic and cardboard thrown away, which, in turn, benefits the environment. As well as less packaging, more recycled content was used to produce the packaging and on-pack recycling labels were used to encourage people to recycle the cardboard pack, rather than throwing it away; both of these initiatives were designed to reduce the amount of waste from Easter eggs. Overall, Sainsbury’s Easter eggs alone had reduced thier packaging by 37% between '08 and '09.

James Murrell