#TooGoodToWaste campaign launches in bid to cut food waste

The Consumer Goods Forum has started a new initiative to tackle one of the world’s biggest environmental challenges, impacting everything from emissions to biodiversity and habitat loss. 

Spearheaded by the organisation’s own Food Waste Coalition – with members including Bel Group, Grupo Exito, Kerry, Majid Al Futtaim, Migros Ticaret A.S., Tesco, Unilever, and Walmart – a series of resources have been produced in a bid to educate people on how to throw less away and make better purchasing decisions, in turn contributing to environmental protection efforts. 

The online resource hub can be found here. This includes tips and advice on how to stop overbuying, changing attitudes towards imperfect produce, and ideas for how to use leftovers. Explainers on how to understand date label, including differences between ‘use by’ and ‘best before’, also feature. As do examples of successful collaborations with non-profit groups and government agencies improving education in this area. 

It is estimated that around 10% of all greenhouse gas emissions can be attributed to food, but a staggering 40% of all food produced winds up going to waste. While a significant proportion of this can be attributed to supply chain issues, around 60% is thrown away once it reaches the home. Food companies, retailers, manufacturers and consumers need to better align to mitigate this problem, the campaign argues. 

According to the Waste & Resources Action Plan, despite efforts to make these issues clear, only around 37% of the public realise that wasting food contributes directly to climate change. The goal now is to empower them to make behavioural changes, which begin with changing perspectives on the need to use what’s in the fridge before heading out to the shops to restock. 

‘The food waste challenge is a complex, shared, and global one – and so our approaches to tackling it must also be shared,’ said Sharon Bligh, Director of Health and Sustainability at The Consumer Good Forum. ‘This campaign is all about uniting members to gather practical insights that can drive faster collective progress.

We hope that through this initiative, our members – regardless of where they are on their journey – will be inspired to do more while also empowering consumers with clear information and advice on how to play their part,’ she continued. ‘Members of CGF’s Food Waste Coalition are already working hard to tackle this enormous environmental and social problem – but we know that more is needed at every level. Every food company has a significant role to play in doing more to minimise food waste across their own operations, while also increasing consumer awareness and action.’

More on food waste and educational environmental campaigns:

https://environmentjournal.online/headlines/international-youth-concerned-society/

https://environmentjournal.online/features-opinion/watch-can-we-feed-the-world-without-destroying-it/

https://environmentjournal.online/headlines/stop-food-waste-day-ai-stops-retailers-dumping-11m-kg/

Image: Lucian Alexe