Mitigating Food Waste: Environmental Impacts And Sustainable Solutions

Case Study 1 – Productivity and Punctuality

John is one of your employees whom you noticed have been late for work on numerous occasions recently. As his punctuality issue is affecting his team and individual productivity at work, you have decided to look into this issue to address it. Write a report using selected contents from above list to explain how this performance issue can be monitored and resolved.

Case Study 2 – Waste and Cost minimisation

You are reviewing your operational budgets for your restaurant and come to realise that there are over expenses in the budget from the kitchen team. You are concerned with wastage and cost that need to be minimised in the kitchen. How will you resolve this issue with the Chef and his kitchen team? How can you ensure this will not happen again?

Case Study 3 – Level of accuracy and Customer service standards

In your monthly customer feedback review, there has been repeated complaints about your new trainees taking wrong orders and not meeting customer expectations in service standards. From a management perspective detail how you will address this situation with these new trainees to ensure no recurrence.

Impact of Food Waste on Environment

The wastage of food is one of the major global concerns and a wastage of food in any form either cooked or uncooked is a wastage of resource that is contributed to the production, processing and distribution of the food. The management of food disposal has an immense impact that contributes to the carbon footprint of the country. Cutting down on food waste is a big concern. The amount of food wastage of Canada is alarming and an approximate 2.2 million tonnes of avoidable house hold food is equivalent to 9.8 million tonnes of carbon-di-oxide which creates immense impact in the environment. Most of the wasted food is diverted, is sent to composting, which is better than sending them to landfills, but the best option would be to manage this wasted food through measures that can reuse this huge resource. Preventing food from wastage is therefore one of the most reliable ways that can contribute to the sustainable environmental development. The report will aim to determine the environmental impact of the wastage of food and find the ways to mitigate the issues of food wastage. The research will be initially based on peer reviewed journals and the other secondary sources of information to understand the gap in the topic. The report will conclude by finding ways to mitigate the problems in a sustainable way. The report will find ways to divert these wasted food resources and channel them in a way where these resources can be used effectively to serve the people who do not have reliable access to adequate amounts of safe, good-quality, healthy and nutritious food.

 According to the National Zero Waste Council the wastage of food by Canadians is astonishing and provides a data from a research they conducted. It states that 63% of the food that is thrown away by Canadians could have been probably eaten or preserved. An average household wastes food that amounts to 140 kg of food per year, a cost equivalent to $1,100 per year. Canada has one of the worst records of food wastage in the world, something which could be prevented thereby minimizing the impact on the environment.

The National Zero Waste Council is a joint effort that accumulates governments, business corporations, non-governmental organisations, to promote and practice waste prevention, by recycling the resources and effective management. The vision of the Zero waste Council is to achieve zero wastage of food for the current and the future generations.  In September 2015, The United Nations passed a resolution to reduce food wastage across the globe. The United Nations set a target to reduce food wastage by 50% by 2030.  The recent years have seen probable contribution in laws across European nations that prevent wastage or destruction of food that are not used.  France and UK have initiated programs that are dedicated to prevent wastage of food and reduce the impact of the losses incurred by food wastage.  In order to understand the impact of the food wastage on the environment we need to look into the channels that produce process and deliver the food from the producer to the consumer.

Household Food Waste in Canada

The most important aspect related to food wastage is the contribution of this organic waste to the Carbon Footprint of the country. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation states that if the total food waste would be treated as an independent nation, it would amount to the largest contributor of carbon footprint placed only after the USA and China. The wastage of food does not only include the wastage of the end produce but also includes the effort that goes down to bring the produce from the source of the production to the consumers table.  The food, which is dumped in the landfill and in the decomposition site, produces Methane, one of the major emissions contributing to ozone depletion (CBC. 2019). Preventing food loss and wastage will eventually contribute to the reduction in Canada’s Greenhouse gas emissions. Reduction in the wastage of food will also help to reduce the cost incurred in the management of waste foods.

Many restaurants, cafes and major fast food chains for example McDonalds, KFC, Burger King etc. are trying to reduce how much food they waste during prep time, cook time and service. To understand what happens to these famous fast food retailers, we have to understand how fast food service works. Using predictive measurements, a schedule of when to make food tells the cooks how much of each item to make in advance, and then the items are left in a warming container. All food items have a freshness time limit that varies by the type of food and after that time limit, it is supposed to be thrown out. Left over food, mainly hamburgers are usually taken home by the employees or most commonly thrown away. Salad items and French fires are always thrown out if they are more than an hour old. There is still a large quantity of food that are not often taken by the employees and not given to the charities either. It is no longer suitable for consumption in food industry business. There is a food allowance for employee meals which are logged separately.

In order to understand the concern and magnitude of the issue of food wastage, several journals and online resources were reviewed to understand the wastage of food and its impact. Several governmental and non-governmental websites were also reviewed to get an understanding about the context. The article titled “The climate change and economic impacts of food waste in the United States” by K. Venkat was reviewed to have a general understanding of the environmental impact of the food waste. Along with the Article published by the George Morris Centre titled “Food Waste in Canada” gives a detailed understanding of the issue and relates to the most important aspect of food wastage in Canada.  The article “Modelling greenhouse gas emissions for municipal solid waste management strategies in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada” also provides credible information that helped in the research of the paper. Alongside in the formulating the plan to mitigate the wastage of food I have reviewed various online sources that include the websites of the Ozharvest, “National Zero Waste Council”, “Toronto Food policy Council”, “Love Food Hate Waste” which is an initiative of the National Zero Waste Council and the “Waste Reduction Week Canada”. Along with the literature review included the reports from the “CBC Radio Canada”, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation helped considerably in framing the research. The various initiatives taken by these organizations were reviewed carefully to make an understanding of the magnitude of the food wastage and the ways that could be implemented in addressing these issues. After reviewing the literatures, it has been observed that there has been a notable mention about the impact of food wastage and the amount of food that is wasted every day. The literature and the online resources provide information about why food wastage should be prevented and few implications have been provided (CBC. 2019). However, there is a lack of innovative ideas that can foster prevention of food wastage and manage this wasted food in a way that channelizes the food resources to the needful and create optimum utilization of the food that mostly gets wasted. Though the available literature provides credible information about food wastages and the several projects and programs that have been initiated on behalf of the government, there is no information regarding the proper disposal of these food resources to probable assets. With information and guidance from the sources, this paper will formulate a plan that would find ways to use these huge resources in a needful way promoting sustainability.

Global Initiatives to Prevent Food Waste

The huge amount of the food that is wasted from the households annually amounts to several issues that come attached with it. The wasted food results in environmental impacts by emitting greenhouse gas from the dumpsites. The wastage of food is a loss of resources that is required to produce the food. The major problem that lies with the wastage of food is the inadequate management of the food waste. The daily wastage of food from domestic households' accounts for about 2.2 million tons of avoidable wastage of food.

 Which when adequately managed can curb the problems of hunger and resource depletion with respect to availability of food for all.

The research question of the article is to find ways that can mitigate the wastage of food. The following questions arise while researching on the discussion of the topic.

• What are the ways that can adequately manage the wastage of food in a sustainable way?
• Are there any communities eg: people from particular ethnic backgrounds who are underserved by the food charity organisations?
• What is the most practical way for food retailers to encourage donations to food banks?

This report will look into the above-mentioned questions and analyse them to find answers to the problems arrived from the research.

In order to understand the problem of food wastage with a greater depth, the several issues that concern food wastage has to be reviewed. We are dealing with food waste that is not limited to the domestic household, but starts in the first step of the production chain and continues throughout every step that food material passes through before arriving at the consumers table. Food is produced for mass population so wastage is almost inevitable. The issues that govern the wastage of food start with the harvest where the defective produce is sorted and involves the first step towards the wastage of foods. The keys issues that can be identified with the wastage of foods can be related through the different stages. The major channels through which food waste is generated needs to be identified in order to curb the growing wastage of food. A look at the hierarchy of the production and transportation of the food determines the pathways where the wastage can be reduced.

Sorting at the field and the definition of a perfect crop creates the major issue that initiates the wastage of food. These wastages can be curbed by awareness of the outputs and the ways they look are not matters that define the quality of food. According to the Ontario Food Bank the majority of the food wastage is contributed by the daily consumer. The key issues can be identified as follows:

Consumer attitude towards products regarding its perfection creates a huge amount of produce converted into waste which otherwise would have been perfectly equal in nutrition and diet.  The only problem is in their physical appearance.

Benefits of Reducing Food Waste

Similarly, one of the major issues that contribute to wastage of foods is the discarding of the products which have finished their shelf life, but remain usable. A huge amount of such goods are wasted every day. The clarity between the different labels of “Best before” and “use by”  “sell by” and expiry dates should be done in order to make the consumer aware of the shelf life of a product. The Consumer Goods Forum Global Voluntary Guidance has laid down guideline that aligns with Food marketing Institute that would reduce the wastage or unnecessary disposal of safe and healthy foods.  The removal of premature goods contributes greatly to food wastage, mostly of products that have non-perishable goods. Highly perishable goods can be redistributed before the extra produce is wasted. Quality based dating should be introduced with perishable products such as “Best if used by” and “Use by” to clear the confusion about the validity of the product.  

Apart from these concerns, the issues also include non-recycling of the foods and not reusing the foods that can be used to feed the needy. The consumable food can be reused by either donating to food banks or organisations that are involved in collecting and redistributing the “left over or easily consumable food” before they are perished.  The Ontario Food Bank reports that one in eight Canadian families has to struggle to “put food on table” while 800,000 people visit a food bank at least once in a month.  It also reports that a one third of the total produce is wasted annually [Lovefoodhatewaste.ca. (2019)].

Along with the recovery and the proper disposal of the food can also reduce the wastage. Recovery can be done in terms of converting the unavoidable food waste into renewable source of energy that is produced with less environmental impact. Finally, proper disposal of the wasted food will reduce the impact of the wasted food on the environment.

The main drivers that can bring changes in reduction of food wastage include the various aspects that contribute to the wastage of food. It has to be understood that these drivers of change will contribute to the reduction in food wastage and simultaneously pave the way for a cleaner and responsible disposal of the wastes.

The first priority that can bring about a massive change in reduction of food wastage, is collaboration among various stakeholders that would reduce the wastage that occurs at every stage in the life cycle of a product. Food waste reduction can be induced through the initiation of various activities through diverse approaches. In order to reduce food wastage, the recovery of food has to be evaluated through the food recovery pyramids.  The recovery pyramid includes various stages through which wastage of food can be assessed and prevented.

Conclusion

The various drivers of change include:

• Prevention of food wastages: The prevention of wastages can be done by avoiding the generation of food waste.
• Re-usage: The re usage of the wasted food can be done by feeding people in need. This can be done by donating surplus food to food banks.
• Re-cycling: The recycling involves using the wasted food that is unavoidable by feeding livestock. Along with the food unfit for human consumption can be used for composting.
• Recovery: Recovery refers to the regeneration of resources by using the wasted food. Recovery is the regeneration of power mostly in the form of renewable energy.
• Finally, proper disposal of the food wastage in landfills will reduce the impact in the environment.

The overview about food wastage Canada gives us an insight into the potential ways that can contribute towards a sustainable and better environment with reduced impact of human activities on the environment.  The wastage of food is one among them that provides a serious concern for the environment and for the depletion of resources that are invested in manufacturing these resources.  The major aim of the article is to find out ways that can mitigate the abundant wastage of food and reduce it to a level that is environmentally sustainable and economically viable (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations).

With the growth of food preservation and packaging techniques, the measures that can be adopted to reduce food wastage are more easily implemented and put to practice. The outreach that can be achieved by the emerging technologies of social media and public forums of discussion can be extensively used to aware the general public about the enormity of the issue and the ways these can be mitigated with the help of the individual consumer along with the other stake holders who are involved in the whole chain of the production beginning from the farmer to the individual consumer or the end user.  

Conclusion:

The mitigation of Food wastes will include a systematic approach which can be implemented at the various levels and engage all the stakeholders involved in the life cycle of food. The introduction of food banks to serve people who have limited access to healthy and nutritious food, who are living in Toronto Community Housing and adequate regulatory measures regarding shelf life and labeling of food according to quality dating will help the reduction of the waste generated from food. The mitigation of the wastage of food has also to be done with the respect to involvement of various stakeholders including the government and non-governmental organisations.  The plan to provide the food supply to the needy can be satisfied through adequate expertise and introduction of food banks, and food control measures.

References:

Canada, E. (2019). Food loss and waste - Canada.ca. Retrieved from https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/managing-reducing-waste/food-loss-waste.html

CBC. (2019). How bad is Canada's food waste problem? Among the world's worst, report finds | CBC Radio. Retrieved from https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/the-current-for-april-5-2018-1.4605392/how-bad-is-canada-s-food-waste-problem-among-the-world-s-worst-report-finds-1.4606012

Gooch, M., Felfel, A., & Marenick, N. (2010). Food waste in Canada. Value Chain Management Centre, George Morris Centre, November.

Lovefoodhatewaste.ca. (2019). Food Waste in Canada – Love Food Hate Waste Canada. Retrieved from https://lovefoodhatewaste.ca/about/food-waste/

Mohareb, A. K., Warith, M. A., & Diaz, R. (2008). Modelling greenhouse gas emissions for municipal solid waste management strategies in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 52(11), 1241-1251.

Nzwc.ca. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.nzwc.ca/focus/food/national-food-waste-strategy/Documents/NZWC-FoodLossWasteStrategy.pdf

Ssests.  How Do We Solve Canada’s $31-Billion Food Waste Problem?. Retrieved from Ontario Association of Food Banks. (2019https://oafb.ca/how-do-we-solve-canadas-31-billion-food-waste-problem/

thestar.com. (2019). Loblaws gets ugly with its produce department | The Star. Retrieved from https://www.thestar.com/life/food_wine/2016/03/23/loblaws-gets-ugly-with-its-produce-department.html

Venkat, K. (2011). The climate change and economic impacts of food waste in the United States. International Journal on Food System Dynamics, 2(4), 431-446.

wearethenest.com.au, T. (2019). Our Family - OzHarvest. Retrieved from https://www.ozharvest.org/our-family/

Wrwcanada.com. (2019). Waste Reduction Week in Canada | Waste Reduction Week in Canada. Retrieved from https://wrwcanada.com/en/about/waste-reduction-week-canada