There are countless ways to reduce food waste at every single stage of the food value chain.
According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, source reduction and feeding wasted food to those in need are two of the most preferred ways for food recovery. Let’s look at some ways to do that.
Let’s first look at some simple solutions for everyday households that can help you take action.
[Watch Video 6]
Read the following articles:
https://foodprint.org/blog/15-easy-ways-to-reduce-food-waste/
https://foodprint.org/blog/how-to-store-vegetables/
At UC Santa Barbara’s cafeteria, students used to have trays that are 14 by 18 inches and students always tend to fill it up with food and drinks they cannot finish simply because of the innate human tendency to fill in space. In fact, there has been research that proved that clutter may provide short term comfort and even an ego boost.
However, in 2019, the dining hall stopped using trays and students can take as much as food they want but there isn’t a tray to pile it onto. The food waste per person reduced by a whole 50%. UC sanata barbara is also paying attention to portion sizes that they plate with the right size and amount students should be eating. This helps avoid the tendency for a lot of students to grab as much food as they can at all-you-can-eats.
Small changes like these like removing a tray or changing the size of a plate can have a huge impact on our behavior and the waste we produce.
The food cam project, initiated at MIT, allows food that would have otherwise been wasted to be placed under a camera, have a photo taken of it and uploaded to Twitter for the entire community to view. This type of solution can be highly effective if implemented into workspaces since a simple reminder will be able to have a huge impact.
Over time, the food cam has been connected to numerous platforms such as email, Twitter, HTTP, Lotus Notes, and RSS feeds. Recently, it even gained its dedicated channel within the team's Slack workspace.
Title: Minimizing Food Waste in Restaurant Kitchens
[Watch Video 7]
Lots of organizations are also helping get the food that is being wasted to people in need. If we are able to get all the food that would otherwise be wasted to people who need it, we are not only fighting hunger and also helping mitigate the impacts of food waste on global warming.
For example, Copia’s app connects people who have surplus to people who need food to minimize the time and effort you would otherwise take to find where to donate it. If you have food, you type your info into the Copia app and a driver will come pick up the food and deliver it to shelters who need it.
As we learned in the previous unit, imperfect foods that are not ‘aesthetically pleasing’ but are totally edible often lead to west. Full Harvest, an online platform, serves as a marketplace tailored for businesses seeking surplus and flawed produce. Farmers can list their excess produce, which would otherwise be wasted, while business owners can browse available options and make purchases. Additionally, the company has introduced the Full Harvest Verified Rescued Produce seal, indicating to customers that the products they're buying have been rescued by the business, contributing to reducing food loss. Full Harvest is committed to its mission of fostering sustainability from the ground up through its marketplace. The company aims to eliminate food waste entirely and achieve a 100% utilization of harvested produce, envisioning a future where no fresh produce is discarded when proper resources are available.
Imperfect foods is very similar to Full Harvest, but offers an alternative business model. They offer a grocery subscription box service that specializes in sourcing imperfect and surplus products for weekly delivery. Through partnerships with farmers and brands, they rescue surplus items and offer them at affordable prices under their own brand, along with products from over 40 partners. Deliveries are made directly to customers' doorsteps, and the company even retrieves empty boxes from the previous week for proper recycling.
Too Good to Go is an innovative app designed to enable users to purchase surplus food from nearby businesses at discounted rates. Through the app, stores can list their surplus food as Surprise Bags, which customers can then purchase and collect directly from the store. This arrangement benefits businesses by allowing them to sell surplus food, attract new customers, and contribute to reducing food waste.
The app's appeal lies in its ability to help customers save money while enabling local retailers to generate profits and enhance their visibility. Moreover, it serves as an accessible solution to the global food waste challenge, offering a mutually beneficial outcome for all parties involved.
Launched in 2015 by Justin Ehlert, a senior majoring in computer science at the University of Texas at Dallas, Fridgely is an app designed to track food expiration dates and notify consumers before items spoil. Ehlert conceived the idea while residing in an apartment with three other male college students, observing the significant amount of food wasted weekly. In the United States, the average family of four discards approximately 25% of its food, with an alarming 80% of Americans disposing of fresh produce and packaged goods due to misinterpretation of expiration labels. Fridgely offers a unique solution to address this widespread yet easily preventable issue.
