{"id":3380,"date":"2020-03-19T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-03-19T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/?p=3380"},"modified":"2020-03-19T08:00:00","modified_gmt":"2020-03-19T08:00:00","slug":"why-new-food-systems-are-vital-to-tackling-the-food-waste-monster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/it\/why-new-food-systems-are-vital-to-tackling-the-food-waste-monster\/","title":{"rendered":"Why new food systems are vital to tackling the food waste monster"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Tom Gill<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If food waste could have a major role in feeding the world\u2019s growing population and cutting emissions, isn\u2019t it time we created different kinds of food systems to help reduce it? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a statistic that doesn\u2019t get any less\nstaggering no matter how many times you read it: Each year, around a third of\nthe food the world produces goes to waste.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a quantity so huge that for most of us\nit\u2019s impossible to imagine in the usual helpful terms \u2014 we\u2019re not just talking\nabout filling a few hundred olympic-sized swimming pools or double-decker\nbusses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reality is, if food waste was a country, it\nwould be the third biggest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world. We have\nundoubtedly created a monster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Waste across the chain<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Addressing the challenge of waste isn\u2019t just about the bananas you\u2019d forgotten were in the fruit bowl and threw away when they went black \u2014 although consumer waste is obviously a substantial part of the challenge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Food waste is a much wider problem, affecting\nevery single part of the food chain from losses in a farmer\u2019s field, to issues\nwith sorting, grading and storage, as well as processing, transportation and\nretail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a far-reaching issue that affects every\nnation in the world, albeit in different ways: An FAO study<\/a> found\nindustrialised countries see the biggest food losses at harvest, sorting and\ngrading, while developing regions see much higher loses during processing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To address the issue here in the UK, WRAP\u2019s Courtauld Commitment<\/a> is aiming to address the issue by challenging the food and drinks industry to reduce its waste by 20% in the next ten years up until 2025 \u2014 a commitment more than 150 businesses have signed up to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While addressing problems in the current system\nis a start, it\u2019s only part of the waste challenge: Addressing\nit in a meaningful way, requires new systems, new solutions, and new ways of\nthinking about what waste actually is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What counts as waste?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ve all been tempted by a 3-for\n2-promotion deal that encourages us to buy more food than we might really need,\nbut necessary supermarket promotions aren\u2019t the only problem in the retail\nchain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For starters, the system of\nforecasting the amount of food that\u2019s required isn\u2019t as effective as it should\nbe, which can lead to overproduction and supply, and food going uneaten.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From a farmer or grower\u2019s\nperspective, the balance between what\u2019s produced and what\u2019s needed can be\ndifficult to manage \u2014 great weather might lead to a bumper crop, for example,\nor bad weather might lead to blemished produce. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unless there is collaboration\nwithin the supply chain, not every player can always react quickly to what\u2019s\nproduced \u2014 meaning significant amounts might not even leave a farmer\u2019s field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another challenge lies with how waste is viewed within the chain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

From a supermarket\u2019s\nperspective, waste is less about how much food goes unharvested, and more about\nthe financial impact; how many products end up with a reduced yellow sticker on\nthem, or how much produce sits in the storeroom and doesn\u2019t even make it onto\nthe shelves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Retailers of all shapes and\nsizes will claim to be zero tonnage waste, or have at least reduced the amount\nof food they throw away, by sending unsold produce to anaerobic digestion\nfacilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, this solution simply\npasses on the waste and expects someone else in the chain to deal with the\nassociated emissions and whatever waste disposal options have been established.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A problem shared\u2026.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

To really address the\nchallenge, waste needs to be viewed as an equitable problem so that everyone in\nthe chain takes responsibility for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the answers to this is\nby creating circular solutions, so that rather than handing on the costs and\nchallenges of waste to someone and then forgetting about it, it can actually\ncreate benefits for different people in the chain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I\u2019ve explained before<\/a>, the livestock\nsector provides a fundamental role in turning food industry \u2018waste\u2019 or\n\u2018co-products\u2019 into a more valuable, nutrient dense protein source.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it\u2019s fantastic to see the\nadvent of innovative, circular economy solutions too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the last year, for example,\nhere at Promar we\u2019ve worked with Oddbox<\/a>, a company that works with farmers and growers to create fruit and vegetable\nboxes using produce that would otherwise go to waste.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By creating profitable and\nlong-term partnerships with farmers, Oddbox is helping reduce farm waste and\nenabling consumers to access fresh produce for a reasonable price and in an\nalternative way \u2014 a technique that is ensuring multiple people across the\nsupply chain benefit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s more, we have also been\nable to advise Oddbox on how to calculate and determine the best ways to\nquantify the benefits, and prove the environmental savings that can be made in\nviewing waste in a more creative way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Future fit food supply chains <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The progress innovative\ncompanies like Oddbox are making show that there\u2019s undoubtedly space in the\nmarket for integrated solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s more, they demonstrate\nhow being in tune with consumer interests is just as important as  coming up with ideas about how to make use of\noverabundant food supplies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With Brexit and other market\nchallenges potentially putting increased pressure on our food supply chains,\nmore innovative and entrepreneurial ideas like these are going to be needed to\ndrive change in our food systems.\n\nIt\u2019s only with new approaches and more aligned\nrelationships that we’re really going to find ways to tame the waste monster.\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Tom Gill If food waste could have a major role in feeding the world\u2019s growing population and cutting emissions, isn\u2019t it time we created different kinds of food systems to help reduce it? It\u2019s a statistic that doesn\u2019t get any less staggering no matter how many times you read it: Each year, around a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":258,"featured_media":3381,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[63,44],"tags":[],"abs_type":[7],"pro_group":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhy new food systems are vital to tackling the food waste monster - Promar Italy DEV<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"If food waste could have a major role in feeding the world\u2019s growing population and cutting emissions, isn\u2019t it time we created different kinds of food systems to help reduce it?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/it\/why-new-food-systems-are-vital-to-tackling-the-food-waste-monster\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why new food systems are vital to tackling the food waste monster\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"If food waste could have a major role in feeding the world\u2019s growing population and cutting emissions, isn\u2019t it time we created different kinds of food systems to help reduce it?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/it\/why-new-food-systems-are-vital-to-tackling-the-food-waste-monster\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Promar Italy DEV\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-03-19T08:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/it\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/80\/2020\/03\/food-waste-.jpg?w=1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Thomas Gill\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Thomas Gill\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/it\/why-new-food-systems-are-vital-to-tackling-the-food-waste-monster\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/it\/why-new-food-systems-are-vital-to-tackling-the-food-waste-monster\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Thomas Gill\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/it\/#\/schema\/person\/a7c471d45c278daa59a67e3c58046bbf\"},\"headline\":\"Why new food systems are vital to tackling the food waste monster\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-03-19T08:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-03-19T08:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/it\/why-new-food-systems-are-vital-to-tackling-the-food-waste-monster\/\"},\"wordCount\":953,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/it\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Agri-Food\",\"Environment\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/it\/why-new-food-systems-are-vital-to-tackling-the-food-waste-monster\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/it\/why-new-food-systems-are-vital-to-tackling-the-food-waste-monster\/\",\"name\":\"Why new food systems are vital to tackling the food waste monster - Promar Italy DEV\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/it\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-03-19T08:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-03-19T08:00:00+00:00\",\"description\":\"If food waste could have a major role in feeding the world\u2019s growing population and cutting emissions, isn\u2019t it time we created different kinds of food systems to help reduce it?\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/it\/why-new-food-systems-are-vital-to-tackling-the-food-waste-monster\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/it\/why-new-food-systems-are-vital-to-tackling-the-food-waste-monster\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/it\/why-new-food-systems-are-vital-to-tackling-the-food-waste-monster\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/it\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Why new food systems are vital to tackling the food waste monster\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/it\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/it\/\",\"name\":\"Promar Italy DEV\",\"description\":\"Provider of farm and agri food consultant business advice services in UK and worldwide\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/it\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/it\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/it\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Promar Italy DEV\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/it\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/it\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/it\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/80\/2024\/02\/PromarLogo_FINAL_Cropped_v2.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/it\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/80\/2024\/02\/PromarLogo_FINAL_Cropped_v2.svg\",\"width\":1064,\"height\":722,\"caption\":\"Promar Italy DEV\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/it\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/it\/#\/schema\/person\/a7c471d45c278daa59a67e3c58046bbf\",\"name\":\"Thomas Gill\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/our-specialists\/?query=Thomas+Gill\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/it\/author\/thomasgill\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Why new food systems are vital to tackling the food waste monster - Promar Italy DEV","description":"If food waste could have a major role in feeding the world\u2019s growing population and cutting emissions, isn\u2019t it time we created different kinds of food systems to help reduce it?","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/it\/why-new-food-systems-are-vital-to-tackling-the-food-waste-monster\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Why new food systems are vital to tackling the food waste monster","og_description":"If food waste could have a major role in feeding the world\u2019s growing population and cutting emissions, isn\u2019t it time we created different kinds of food systems to help reduce it?","og_url":"https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/it\/why-new-food-systems-are-vital-to-tackling-the-food-waste-monster\/","og_site_name":"Promar Italy DEV","article_published_time":"2020-03-19T08:00:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/it\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/80\/2020\/03\/food-waste-.jpg?w=1024","width":"1024","height":"1024","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Thomas Gill","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Thomas Gill","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/it\/why-new-food-systems-are-vital-to-tackling-the-food-waste-monster\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/it\/why-new-food-systems-are-vital-to-tackling-the-food-waste-monster\/"},"author":{"name":"Thomas Gill","@id":"https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/it\/#\/schema\/person\/a7c471d45c278daa59a67e3c58046bbf"},"headline":"Why new food systems are vital to tackling the food waste monster","datePublished":"2020-03-19T08:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2020-03-19T08:00:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/it\/why-new-food-systems-are-vital-to-tackling-the-food-waste-monster\/"},"wordCount":953,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/it\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Agri-Food","Environment"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/it\/why-new-food-systems-are-vital-to-tackling-the-food-waste-monster\/","url":"https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/it\/why-new-food-systems-are-vital-to-tackling-the-food-waste-monster\/","name":"Why new food systems are vital to tackling the food waste monster - Promar Italy DEV","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/it\/#website"},"datePublished":"2020-03-19T08:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2020-03-19T08:00:00+00:00","description":"If food waste could have a major role in feeding the world\u2019s growing population and cutting emissions, isn\u2019t it time we created different kinds of food systems to help reduce it?","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/it\/why-new-food-systems-are-vital-to-tackling-the-food-waste-monster\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/it\/why-new-food-systems-are-vital-to-tackling-the-food-waste-monster\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/it\/why-new-food-systems-are-vital-to-tackling-the-food-waste-monster\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/it\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Why new food systems are vital to tackling the food waste monster"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/it\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/it\/","name":"Promar Italy DEV","description":"Provider of farm and agri food consultant business advice services in UK and worldwide","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/it\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/it\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/it\/#organization","name":"Promar Italy DEV","url":"https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/it\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/it\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/it\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/80\/2024\/02\/PromarLogo_FINAL_Cropped_v2.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/it\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/80\/2024\/02\/PromarLogo_FINAL_Cropped_v2.svg","width":1064,"height":722,"caption":"Promar Italy DEV"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/it\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/it\/#\/schema\/person\/a7c471d45c278daa59a67e3c58046bbf","name":"Thomas Gill","sameAs":["https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/our-specialists\/?query=Thomas+Gill"],"url":"https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/it\/author\/thomasgill\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/it\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/80\/2020\/03\/food-waste-.jpg?fit=%2C","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3380"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/258"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3380"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3380\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3381"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3380"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3380"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3380"},{"taxonomy":"abs_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/abs_type?post=3380"},{"taxonomy":"pro_group","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pro_group?post=3380"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}