Consumer education a critical strategy in food waste reduction efforts

Representatives of the food industry testified this week on the House Agriculture Committee on possible solutions to the issue of food waste reduction in the country.

Meghan Stasz, senior director of sustainability for the Food Products Manufacturers Association pointed out that food manufacturers have made progress in reducing food waste in their businesses, including establishing a food waste reduction alliance in 2011 .

Mr Stass said manufacturers can still play a role. Although 44% of food waste occurs at the consumer level, manufacturers can educate consumers, encourage food selection, and encourage waste reduction practices. A standardized date tag is optional, but it is only one of several ways to deal with food waste problems, she said

According to ReFED, the estimated annual revenue from the standard date label system is about 1.82 billion dollars. ReFED has rated the standard date label as $ 2,666 million after consumer education to produce annual profit.

Companies such as General Mills and Nestle have expressed support for standardized date labels. However, consumer education provides manufacturers with another opportunity to play the role of reducing the most common food waste, a consumer level opportunity.

Recently, several companies have announced financial aid and / or like research on Dannon's microbiome or Silk brand efforts to promote vegetable food as environmental sustainability, transparency and health and wellness I participated in the research program. solution

As with these studies, manufacturers can also participate in consumer education. This includes consumer education grant programs for food storage or composting, marketing or promotional activities to encourage food donation, or printing tips and educational information on food waste on packaging .

The educational support activities of manufacturers can be key to solving the biggest problem in food waste

At the grocery retail level, policies from supply chain initiatives to shopper education help to prevent food waste. But in order to fully understand the scope of the problem and effectively implement strategies to reduce food waste, retailers must track the amount of wasted food through the operation. By relaxing the standards of cosmetics and purchasing year-round and seasonal crops you can reduce the mass (estimated 20 billion pounds) of grocery corruption in the field. At the same time, reducing supply side of "bycatch" (non-target seafood) promises to drastically reduce the waste of seafood in the supply chain. Therefore it is possible to educate consumers about the ecological cost of eating marine wildlife.

The US Department of Agriculture has launched a new consumer education campaign through its Nutrition Policy Promotion Center, which contains information on food losses and waste facts and hints to reduce it. In a new chapter of ChooseMyPlate.gov, we will educate consumers to reduce waste of food to expand family budgets. These initiatives have joined the US food waste problem and other federal initiatives to reduce food loss program. Because Sodexo serves 9,000 customer sites in North America, we have a big opportunity and responsibility to reduce food waste. In October, we will hold a 5 day event called WasteLESS Week on your website worldwide. In this program, consumers need to think about waste and its environmental impact in various ways, think about how they can make a difference and make a change.

Mr Stass said manufacturers can still play a role. Although 44% of food waste occurs at the consumer level, manufacturers can educate consumers, encourage food selection, and encourage waste reduction practices. A standardized date label is optional but it is only one of several ways to deal with food waste problems, she said. Recently, several companies have announced financial aid and / or like research on Dannon's microbiome or Silk brand efforts to promote vegetable food as environmental sustainability, transparency and health and wellness I participated in the research program. solution