The UN claims that Food production must double by 2050 to meet the demand of the worlds growing population. However, most of the worlds productive farmland is already in use, so increased food production will require extending intensive farming methods with greater use of pesticides and fertilizers leading to the increased release of greenhouse gases. Paradoxically, UK government policy is attempting to deal with both of these problems simultaneously with plans to "boost food production in Britain and reduce its impact on the environment". Is this realistic, or is there an easier way?
Calculations based on waste and calorie intake suggest that the UK has access to at least double the food necessary for adequate nutrition. Since farming, retail and eating habits are probably similar throughout the developed world, this implies there is no real food crisis in terms of the amount produced, only in how it is consumed. Therefore, a better strategy must be to focus on reducing food waste rather than growing more. This would minimise the impact on the environment, reduce food expenditure, and achieve better food security with a healthier lifestyle for the population.
Retailers should be obliged to stock a proportion of food, that would be presently rejected due to appearance, but otherwise meets safety standards. This could be marketed as cheap 'sustainable' produce in addition to, or possibly in preference to expensive organic foods which are of dubious health and environmental benefits.Hotels, Restaurants and other communal places of eating could purchase this sustainable produce to meet their environmental targets. The food could can be re-cut for aesthetic value or simply merged with other foods in pies & stews etc.Retailers should be obliged to sell all stocked food by a 'use by' date or pay a tax that should be set high enough to discourage waste. One method of achieving this would be to introduce a variable pricing mechanism based on the demand throughout the sale period which is gradually reduced to near zero by the use by date.
Damaged packets should be re-labelled as low carbon pet food or animal feed if this doesn't endanger safety, or if this is not possible, biodegraded using composting and anaerobic digestion to produce methane for fuel and enrich agricultural soil.To avoid consumer waste, all foods should be purchasable in smaller amounts at a constant unit price and separated into compact sealable units to ensure they are kept fresh as long as possible. This would avoid excess buying which often leads to waste.Retail policies that lead to excess buying should be discouraged. These include moving items around the store and placing essentials at the rear of store to encourage coverage and residence time. Retail promotion and prominent positioning that encourages purchasing should also be reserved for sustainable products.
When new products are introduced small samples should always be offered, so as to avoid buying large quantities of unwanted food.Unnecessary purchases and impulse buying could be minimised by avoiding trips to the retailer altogether through Internet ordering and cost competitive and environmental delivery schemes such as the COAST system suggested in this report. This purchasing system would help consumers manage shopping more efficiently via web based shopping lists, by anticipating when a new item is needed from the date and their purchasing history. This system would reduce waste and excess eating by minimising any excess food lying around the home.Restaurants and fast food outlets should always offer the option of smaller portions with a proportionate reduction in price. Private servings are obviously more difficult to reduce; however, promoting a general culture of rejecting waste and extravagance should be nurtured amongst the public.
However, are we taking a too lenient line with the food industry? The Sustainable Development Commission thinks so. It condemned targets set by WRAP as "unambitious and lacking urgency". with multi-buy promotions helping to fuel waste and obesity in Britain. Mr Lang, who is also professor of food policy at City University, London said that three years ago, the government-funded WRAP left it up to supermarkets to find voluntary "solutions to food waste" in an agreement dubbed the Courtauld Commitment. "The Government is frankly not using its leverage adequately. It really should toughen up on Courtauld, which must be enforced because this is ludicrous". An 18-month study, which found that "too many supermarket practices are still unhealthy, unjust and unsustainable", said Wrap should adopt a "more aspirational approach to reducing waste in food retail by setting longer-term targets and [supporting] a culture of zero waste".All this suggests that voluntary regulations are either ineffective or far too slow to take effect. The bottom line is that waste is endemic to contemporary economic ideology because corporate obligations require them to increase growth and profits and an effective means of achieving this is by encouraging excessive public consumption. Until these objectives are replaced with ones that are more beneficial to society than businesses, any significant progress in meeting sustainable targets without imposing strong regulations will be very limited.
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Calculations based on waste and calorie intake suggest that the UK has access to at least double the food necessary for adequate nutrition. Since farming, retail and eating habits are probably similar throughout the developed world, this implies there is no real food crisis in terms of the amount produced, only in how it is consumed. Therefore, a better strategy must be to focus on reducing food waste rather than growing more. This would minimise the impact on the environment, reduce food expenditure, and achieve better food security with a healthier lifestyle for the population.
Retailers should be obliged to stock a proportion of food, that would be presently rejected due to appearance, but otherwise meets safety standards. This could be marketed as cheap 'sustainable' produce in addition to, or possibly in preference to expensive organic foods which are of dubious health and environmental benefits.Hotels, Restaurants and other communal places of eating could purchase this sustainable produce to meet their environmental targets. The food could can be re-cut for aesthetic value or simply merged with other foods in pies & stews etc.Retailers should be obliged to sell all stocked food by a 'use by' date or pay a tax that should be set high enough to discourage waste. One method of achieving this would be to introduce a variable pricing mechanism based on the demand throughout the sale period which is gradually reduced to near zero by the use by date.
Damaged packets should be re-labelled as low carbon pet food or animal feed if this doesn't endanger safety, or if this is not possible, biodegraded using composting and anaerobic digestion to produce methane for fuel and enrich agricultural soil.To avoid consumer waste, all foods should be purchasable in smaller amounts at a constant unit price and separated into compact sealable units to ensure they are kept fresh as long as possible. This would avoid excess buying which often leads to waste.Retail policies that lead to excess buying should be discouraged. These include moving items around the store and placing essentials at the rear of store to encourage coverage and residence time. Retail promotion and prominent positioning that encourages purchasing should also be reserved for sustainable products.
When new products are introduced small samples should always be offered, so as to avoid buying large quantities of unwanted food.Unnecessary purchases and impulse buying could be minimised by avoiding trips to the retailer altogether through Internet ordering and cost competitive and environmental delivery schemes such as the COAST system suggested in this report. This purchasing system would help consumers manage shopping more efficiently via web based shopping lists, by anticipating when a new item is needed from the date and their purchasing history. This system would reduce waste and excess eating by minimising any excess food lying around the home.Restaurants and fast food outlets should always offer the option of smaller portions with a proportionate reduction in price. Private servings are obviously more difficult to reduce; however, promoting a general culture of rejecting waste and extravagance should be nurtured amongst the public.
However, are we taking a too lenient line with the food industry? The Sustainable Development Commission thinks so. It condemned targets set by WRAP as "unambitious and lacking urgency". with multi-buy promotions helping to fuel waste and obesity in Britain. Mr Lang, who is also professor of food policy at City University, London said that three years ago, the government-funded WRAP left it up to supermarkets to find voluntary "solutions to food waste" in an agreement dubbed the Courtauld Commitment. "The Government is frankly not using its leverage adequately. It really should toughen up on Courtauld, which must be enforced because this is ludicrous". An 18-month study, which found that "too many supermarket practices are still unhealthy, unjust and unsustainable", said Wrap should adopt a "more aspirational approach to reducing waste in food retail by setting longer-term targets and [supporting] a culture of zero waste".All this suggests that voluntary regulations are either ineffective or far too slow to take effect. The bottom line is that waste is endemic to contemporary economic ideology because corporate obligations require them to increase growth and profits and an effective means of achieving this is by encouraging excessive public consumption. Until these objectives are replaced with ones that are more beneficial to society than businesses, any significant progress in meeting sustainable targets without imposing strong regulations will be very limited.
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