Независимый Диалог
Местоположение:
Австрия, Германия, Без границ, Швейцария
Main findings
1. An adaptation of the legal framework is necessary to make food donations easier and riskless for businesses so they are not liable if they donate food and someone falls ill accidentally. On the other hand, people need the education to distinguish good, edible food from food that has gone bad without looking at a best before date, but by using their own senses. Usually, this starts in families already. Educational institutions, e.g. schools can contribute here. The adaptation of the legal framework should also include the legalization of dumpster diving. 2. It is not a single solution that c
... Подробнееan resolve the issue of food waste, but many different solutions and stakeholders. Businesses cannot only reduce food waste by taking it as their main business case and purpose, but also if they raise efficiency in general. (For example, if a restaurant decides to omit cherry tomatoes as a garnish as 60% of the consumers did not eat it.) Different business models reduce food waste at different levels of the supply chain. Successful businesses are existing on all these levels, and they do not just provide value for food waste reduction but also general value for their consumers – be it an upscale menu in a restaurant (from ugly vegetables, with innards) or bread sold at a discount. Zero Waste Austria already developed a manual with best practices for waste reduction in hotels, and this idea could also be further developed for food waste reduction. This helps every business to reduce food waste. 3. Plant-based diets have the potential to reduced food waste, directly and indirectly. If people stop eating animals, they also avoid wastage of one a perishable commodity, that needs to be transported chilled and thus uses a lot of energy. At least in Austria, meat accounts for ca. 11% of all food waste. Indirectly, if people decide to eat more plant-based they change their cooking habits. They become more aware of the ingredients they use and also may decide to use more local and seasonal ingredients. This is synergetic: Plantbased diets are healthier for people, reduce food waste and raise awareness for food. Therefore, we encourage the promotion of plant-based diets at every level and advocate for a phasing out of subsidies for meat, eggs, and dairy products as well as dairy campaigns. We also encourage farmer education that takes into account needs of future consumers, educating them about vegetable cultivation and cultivation of pulses, lentils, chickpeas etc. 4. The nose to tail trend contributes to food waste reduction. By changing the definition of what people regard as inedible food loss vs. food waste that they could have saved, we can feed more people with less food. In this area, cultural exchange is extremely valuable. A participant mentioned that in South East Asia for example, it is much more common to consume all parts of the animal, including the feet of chicken for example. Other participants mentioned that they started to use the green of carrots or the stem of broccoli for example. This is holistically sustainable, as it contributes to healthier nutrition with more fibers and vitamins, helps people to save money and also creates more business opportunities: If people in the DACH region get more accustomed to eating “more” parts of vegetables again, restaurants can design new, creative dishes and also startups find creative opportunities to market food that has been regarded as food loss in former times. Cooking classes, also in schools, can greatly support everyone in their journey to become a more reflective cook and not to regard a broccoli stem as “waste” because it has always been done that way in the past. 5. Smaller structures and shorter supply chains help to avoid food waste. Smaller stores have better possibilities to manage their food supply and create less food waste overall. Moreover, shorter supply chains lead to less waste creation. In that sense, it is not only important to watch out for regional but also for seasonal food. Food grown in the season is also tastier and provides people with additional health benefits. Zero Waste stores, farmers' markets and small organic stores, but also other alternative forms of purchasing food e.g. SOLAWI and growing own food in gardens are found to have beneficial effects for food waste reduction. Every consumer can do his/her part here: Informing themselves about local fruits and vegetables and establishing alternative purchasing habits. => A lot of the findings are synergetic and policies that reduce food waste are not just found to benefit the environment, but also people and companies. Food waste reduction strategies often need creativity, and there is no one actor that can fix our food systems so food waste is gone. We need each and every actor on every level of the supply chain to be involved. In this regard, it is not just important to organize dialogues like this, but also to get more people to participate. At the dialogue as well as at university events related to the food waste issue, the Convenor observed many engaged people, but frequently they remained in a bubble. Therefore, sound marketing is important not just to reach the target groups, but also consumers and producers that did not consciously think about the food waste issue before. For business leaders that want to reduce food waste, we recommend introducing changes in cooperation with all employees: Frequently, they know better where large amounts of food waste can be reduced only by changing small habits in the daily workflow. Скрыть
Направления деятельности: 2, 3
Ключевые слова: Data & Evidence, Environment and Climate, Governance, Innovation