Why waste it? …
I would say food is one of the most important things in life… we literally cannot live without it, it gives us energy, it’s a reminder of home, it brings us comfort and indulgence. After reading an article about food waste, it was very mind-blowing to see the realities of restaurants. After reading the article on the sustainable brand website they provided shocking facts like how over 1/3 of the food that we produce is unused or that the amount of economic loss in food is nearly $940 billion (Koon, 2019).
The article wants to promote ways in which restaurants can cut down on waste and save money. They came up with 5 steps that these companies can to do in order to help the cause (Koon, 2019):
1. Measure the amount of food being wasted. Using this information, they can make the necessary changes in order to cut down that number.
2. Engage staff. Employees, for the most part, they are the ones handling the resources.
3. Rethink Inventory. Research what resources are truly needed. A lot of resources will just be though out because they have gone bad.
4. Reduce overproduction. This could also mean smaller portions; a lot of food waste comes from people not finishing all their food.
5. Repurpose excess food. This can tie in with number 3 if there is a certain resource that is going to go bad soon, include it a dish, don’t throw it out.
The study showed that even if a company just followed one step, in the end, it saved the business money and reduced their amount of waste. I believe this can also be applicable in our daily lives as well, or when we go grocery shopping. This article also got me thinking about an app that was mentioned in one of my other classes. It is still a working process, I believe it’s called “scarps”, some engineers at UBC have created an app in which food selling business can upload onto an app the food being thrown away, instead of throwing it away they can offer it at a discounted price for app users. Therefore, hopefully reducing their food waste as well as broke students.
Resources:
Koon, W. B. (2019, February 15). Champions 12.3: Restaurants Realize 7:1 ROI by Reducing Food Waste. Retrieved February 24, 2019, from https://sustainablebrands.com/read/business-case/champions-12-3-restaurants-realize-7-1-roi-by-reducing-food-waste
Thanks for bringing up this topic, it is actually really interesting! In Barcelona, where I come from, these applications are becoming really popular. According to the FAO, approximately 1/3 of the of the total food production in Spain ends up wasted. In fact, 7,7 million tones of food had been lost in this country the last year. More specifically for the Catalan community, 40% of the waste is produced by restoration and distribution of food. Given this situation, two apps had become really popular in Barcelona: Tapper (which received funding from the Government for its development) and weSAVEeat. They are actually examples of what you explained: through geolocation, users can get food at discounted prices (at least 50%) that otherwise would have been thrown away. I personally used this service many times, and I believe it is an excellent way to take profit of a powerful win-win situation between the seller and the consumer while highly enhancing sustainability.
Thank you for the blog post. I found it very interesting and of big importance. Food waste is an important issue that should be tackled by new initiatives. By following the five steps of the article companies will reduce effectively the amount of food waste they produce. Additionally, this will represent a cost reduction for them so they will be in a WIN-WIN situation. However, they will always be a part of the food that will be wasted at the end of the day so it is our duty to find a way to give the food to whoever needs it instead of trashing it. An app sounds like a good option!