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FOOD SUSTAINABILITY

Food wasteFood waste is increasingly seen as a serious environmental, ethical and economic issue. With the global population growing every year, there is mounting awareness of the resources squandered to produce food that is never eaten. Future generations will look back and ponder the great scandal of world hunger. How did 1.3bn tonnes of food, about a third of the food produced globally, end up wasted each year while hundreds of millions of people went hungry? The food thrown away by producers, retailers and consumers in the developed world would in itself be sufficient to feed the planet’s 870m malnourished people. Up until now we have attempted to solve the hunger problem through improvements in agriculture by clearing more land, using more resources and growing more crops. New technologies,

such as genetically modified crops, could well be part of the solution to global hunger. However, in addition to pursuing improvements in agriculture, we need to focus on how we can reduce wastage. We must put more of what we produce onto the plate and less into the bin.

Food waste and the consumerIn developed countries, most of the waste occurs in homes, restaurants, retailer stores and warehouses. A great deal of edible food is thrown away because of its relatively low price, cosmetic blemishes, overstocking and confusion over durability labelling. The waste of such a vital resource is shameful. About a third of food waste occurs at the consumer level because we buy too much and then throw it away. Much of the battle to reduce food waste is about changing consumer attitudes and behaviours. Waste can be reduced

Food sustainability - waste not want notAs the impact of food and drink waste becomes an ever bigger ethical, environmental and economic issue, Sterling Crew and Thomas Crew of Kolak Snack Foods look at the challenges and opportunities behind the waste of food and drink. They review its impact, drivers, management and reduction.

About a third of food waste occurs at the consumer level because we buy too much and then throw it away.’

by simple steps, such as serving smaller portions, eating leftovers, planning the shopping better and playing our part in encouraging retailers and restaurateurs to make better use of food.

The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), a UK organisation aiming to accelerate the move towards a resource efficient economy, is targeting consumers with messages about the magnitude of food waste and the practical steps that can be

All other18%

Meat andfish 7%

Fresh fruit8%

Dairy andeggs 10%

Fresh vegetablesand salads

19%

Drink17%

Meals 10%

Bakery11%

UK food waste by weight (WRAP)

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taken to reduce it. The message in its powerful, hard hitting campaign, Love Food Hate Waste, has helped raise awareness of food waste since its launch in 2007. However WRAP’s research in 2012 showed that UK households were still wasting 4.2m tonnes of the 7m tonnes of avoidable food waste, worth a staggering £12.5bn. Britons are throwing away the equivalent of 24 meals a month. Every day 24m slices of bread, 5.8m potatoes and 1.1m eggs are thrown out with the rubbish.

The choices we make as we steer our shopping trollies through supermarkets and dine in restaurants are crucial. Food waste in the home is about changing people’s attitudes and behaviour and developing personal accountability. We need to return to the thrifty values which pervaded during World War 2, remembering its old adage: waste not want not.

In the Food Standards Agency’s Biannual Public Attitudes Tracker (May 2015) [1], food waste appeared second on the list of wider food issues of concern (spontaneous plus prompted), just behind sugar but above salt. This amply indicates the high level of consumer awareness and concern relating to food waste and suggests that an engaged public will be responsive to WRAP’s waste reduction campaign.

Waste in the food supply networkAccording to a recent United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) report [2], about a third of all food produced globally, worth around US$1 trillion, gets lost or wasted in food production and consumption systems: about 1 in 4 calories intended for consumption is never actually eaten. Approximately two thirds of this food waste occurs at the production and distribution level. Food losses in the supply chain in harvesting, transportation, storage, processing

and retail can be addressed by technical solutions. A substantial amount of food rots in fields or is lost in the food supply network as a result of poor transportation systems or spoils in markets that lack proper preservation techniques. We can make a big difference by transporting and storing food at appropriate temperatures to extend food life. Reliance on technology, including genetically modified crops, to provide drought resistant foods is also a very real option but will need to be managed sensitively with consumers, NGOs and the media.

To maintain taste, quality, nutrition and not least safety, a key factor in ensuring more food is fit for consumption is how quickly it moves from plough to plate. In many developing countries there is still a lack of basic transport infrastructure and professional experience to maximise efficiencies at the very start of the supply network. Speed to market is a critical factor in reducing food waste. The faster food is transported and the more control exercised over the distribution process, the less likely food is to deteriorate. Investment in infrastructure and processing capabilities of developing nations will help to further reduce the wastage.

Of the estimated 15m tonnes of food wasted in the UK each year, 200,000 occurs at the retail end of the supply network. It comes from the seven major supermarkets which account for 87.3% of the UK grocery market. Much of the food surplus is now sent to FareShare and other food waste charities and made available for people in need. Where food excess and surplus cannot be avoided, redirecting it to feed people must be a primary concern.

The UK food supply network could save millions of tonnes of waste by increasing the life of products. Between 1.3m and 2.6m

FOOD SUSTAINABILITY

tonnes of food waste, with a value of £3- £6bn, arises in the supply network and the home every year because the product date has expired. WRAP has concluded that it is feasible to challenge existing product life setting protocols and potentially add one day to a wide range of food products. It estimates that an increase of one day in product life across a range of foods could prevent around 250,000 tonnes of food waste each year. The approach has the backing of the Food Standards Agency.

Environmental impact of reducing food wasteThe environmental consequences of food waste are immense. The more food we waste the greater pressure we place on the environment and our ever dwindling resources. Colossal amounts of land, fertiliser, energy and water are being used to produce food that may never be eaten. This in turn has unnecessary impacts in terms of adverse consequences for the environment and biodiversity. WRAP has estimated that the CO2 saving from avoidable food waste in 2012 would have been the same as taking one in four cars off the road. Waste food adds 3.3bn tonnes of greenhouse

about 1 in 4 calories intended for consump-tion is never actually eaten.’

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gases to the atmosphere and uses 1.4bn hectares of land, equivalent to 28% of the world’s agricultural land. If food waste were a country, it would be the third largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world, after the United States and China. Clearly we need to find a balance between producing an ever increasing amount of food and sustaining the planet for future generations. By 2050 we will have two billion more people to feed. Of all the options open to us for increasing global food availability, tackling waste could be one of the most productive, rapid, cost effective and environmentally friendly. The less we waste, the less impact the food production infrastructure will have on the environment.

Food waste itself is a vital resource and should not be wasted. Domestic and commercial food waste that is not fit for human or animal consumption can be used as a feedstock for anaerobic digestion. This technology involves the breakdown of food waste by

microorganisms in the absence of oxygen and the generation of methane. The process converts food waste into a source of renewable energy and produces a rich soil improver similar to compost. This can be applied to agricultural land and can reduce our reliance on artificial fertilisers, which require a great deal of energy to make. It also allows us to use food waste as a resource and to return vital nutrients back to the land, reducing the environmental impact of food wastes.

Food waste increases water footprintThree quarters of the Earth’s surface is covered by water, but only 3% is fresh and only a third of that is readily available to drink. The rest is locked up in snowcaps and ice fields. Our industrialised, global population is placing an unsustainable demand on this limited resource. There is enough potable water, but not in the right place; the problem is one of distribution and management rather than simply supply. According to the World Economic Forum, the global water crisis has now risen to become the number one risk to business. This situation is exacerbated by the fact that the water used to irrigate food crops that are wasted could meet the domestic water needs of nine billion people. In the UK alone we waste on average 243L/d in the food we throw away, over one and a half times the amount of water we use in our homes. The waste of good food and drink accounts for 4% of the UK’s water footprint.

This alone is bad enough but it does not take into account virtual water. The World Wildlife Fund has estimated that the average Britton uses 4,645L/d when all hidden virtual water factors are added. While only 148L are used daily for drinking and hygiene, 30 times as much is used in food, goods and services as virtual water, the

total volume of water required to produce a specific product. For instance, 21,000L is required to produce 1kg of roasted coffee and so it takes an astounding 140L to make a single cup of coffee containing 7g! On this basis it would take 15,500L to produce 1kg of beef, 3,400L for 1kg of rice and 13L for a single tomato. Only 38% of this virtual water comes from within the UK. When we consume meat, fruit, soya, oil seed, rice, coffee, tea and cocoa, the water required to produce these products comes from elsewhere. We could effectively be exporting drought and our total external water footprint could be as high as 46.4bn cubic metres a year, a significant amount of which could come from waste and surplus food.

The role of food businessesThe food industry is the UK’s largest manufacturing sector with a gross value added to the economy of £21.5bn. It employs around 400,000 people and accounts for almost 16% of the total £81.8bn manufacturing turnover. Food waste is emerging as a major issue for the industry. As global demand for more food continues to grow, business leaders need to rethink the way food waste is valued and managed in order to succeed in a food scarce world. In the 1960s

Food waste itself is a vital resource and should not be wasted.’

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Anaerobic digestion plant

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There has been a seismic shift in the global food business approach to sustainability and waste.’

Rachel Carson’s environmental polemic ‘Silent Spring’ played a major role in articulating sustainability and humankind’s impact on nature. At the time it was on the periphery of mainstream culture and even perceived in some quarters as subversive. Now sustainability has gone mainstream and is embraced by society at large. Those who are concerned about the planet are equally as likely to wear business suits or white laboratory coats as sandals and kaftans and every political party espouses the virtues of sustainability. It affects people’s behaviour and the choices they make. To most of the public sustainability means doing the right thing when it comes to valuing the earth’s limited resources, producing less waste and reducing negative human impact

There has been a seismic shift in the global food business approach to sustainability and waste. But is it just the latest business fad or is it a sustainable commercial megatrend? Evidence is emerging that it is a real business imperative that will profoundly affect a company’s competitiveness and even its survival. There is a fundamental change in the economic landscape as corporations try to establish themselves as credible planet-friendly organisations. They are aware that consumers are becoming more concerned about the level of food waste and want reassurance that globalisation can be tamed and that man-made climate change can be averted.

Modern food businesses recognise there are also real benefits in getting sustainability and reducing food waste right. They include creating a more loyal customer base, fostering better relationships with government agencies and enhancing brand reputation. Many investors, both institutional and personal, are influenced by sustainability considerations and want to combine sustainability ethics with

sound business performance. They do not have to be mutually exclusive; principle does not have to be traded for profit. Nevertheless our daily papers report that ethical investing in environmentally friendly organisations can be a potential minefield and is fraught with confusion.

There must be substance behind the approach to food waste reduction to avoid accusations of green washing and to produce measurable tangible benefits to a food business. Any organisation working to be more sustainable needs to have a strategy for reducing, reusing and recycling. Eliminating food waste and increasing efficiency also makes sound commercial sense. Reducing food waste saves money; we should only use what we need. Sustainability and waste is a keystone in a food organisation’s Corporate and Social Responsibly (CSR) policy. CSR has its original roots in environmentally friendly programmes and businesses already have experience of seeking ways of combining efficiency with CSR.

Any food business with green aspirations needs to have waste reduction at the very heart of its decision making process and always on the table for discussion. It needs to weave it into the fabric of its operations, rather than being a one-off or bolt-on programme. At Kolak we have reduced the amount of waste we generate and now have zero waste discharge to landfill. Our waste food, including potato peel, goes to animal feed

or anaerobic digestion; white and brown starch recovered from processed potatoes is sold on for use in other industries and waste cooking oil is recycled as biodiesel. Our overall aim is to reduce our waste and carbon footprint and become a more sustainable, energy efficient manufacturer.

ConclusionReputational risks relating to food and drink waste will continue to increase as shareholders, stakeholders, the media and NGOs put individual businesses and the food industry as a whole under greater scrutiny. Sound policies on waste management will become more material to the performance of businesses. The need to maintain consumer trust about squandered food and its impact will become more important as a better informed public seeks to hold the industry to account for its waste. There is likely to be increased momentum for corporate transparency and reporting on food and water waste. Food scientists have a key role to innovate and scale up technologies to reduce waste, along with a responsibility to raise awareness of the impact of food wastage and to encourage sector wide change. Sustainable development should meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. We all leave a mark on our planet so we should do our best to make it a positive one, whether in the home as consumers or at work as food professionals.

Sterling Crew is Head of Technical and Thomas Crew is Production Manager at Kolak Snack Foods. Sterling Crew is also Vice President of the IFST. Email: sterling@kolak .co.uk

‘Food and drink sustainability: waste not want not’ is the subject and title of IFST’s Spring Conference, which is being held on 20th April at the National Motorcycle Museum near Birmingham. More details about the conference will be announced shortly: www.ifst.org

References and article available online at:

www.fstjournal.org/features/29-3/food-sustainability

FOOD SUSTAINABILITY