A 'report' tells supermarkets how they should sell their products and, presumably through some sort of survey, has concluded that buy one get one free (the bogof) should be told to bog off. Through a pernicious extension of the target mentality to the private sector, the civil service is now imprisoning the free market and private sector actors within its remit:
The report said that the new industry target on food waste, which would be set next year and cover the period to 2015, would have to save households at least £370 million a year.
Supermarkets will be encouraged to phase out bogofs on perishable food. In the interim, they will be required to give shoppers advice on how to reduce wastage, for example with labels on whether items can be frozen and recipes for overripe fruit and vegetables.
Disturbingly, a similar approach is also championed by the Tories, under the brand of libertarian paternalism. Families and individuals have to be nudged towards the social good; another stick for the professionals to think up ways to constrain and channel our thoughs and actions.
If government wishes to embark on a diet, the social good resulting from its decline would outweigh all the targets and pleas for the continuation of its existence that DEFRA comes up with.