EVENTS AND EXHIBITIONS
INCORPORATING COLD CHAIN source to retail outlets( 16 %) and from retailer to consumption( 16 %). Less than 1 % occurred in retail outlets itself. Tesco, however, accepted a shared responsibility across the value chain to reduce waste by partnering with producers and suppliers and providing assistance to consumers.
O’ Connor left delegates with three key recommendations: 1. Targets set ambition and ambition motivates action. Every country, major city and company involved in the food supply chain should set food loss and waste reduction targets consistent with UN target 12.3 to ensure sufficient attention and focus.
2. Measure— what gets measured gets managed. Governments and companies should quantify and report on food loss and waste, and monitor progress over time through to 2030.
3. Act to impact— all role players. Governments, companies, and civil society should accelerate and scale up the adoption of policies, incentives, investments, and practices that reduce food loss and waste.
ReFED takes lead in US
Food waste in the US was put under the spotlight by Eva Goulbourne, associate director at ReFED.“ Every year, American consumers, businesses, and farms spend USD218-billion( roughly 1.3 % of GDP) on food that is never eaten. US food waste uses 18 % of cropland, 19 % of fertilizer, 21 % of fresh water, and 21 % of landfill volume, and generates 5 % of greenhouse gas( GHG) emissions. Nearly 85 % of all food waste happens in the homes of consumers or businesses such as restaurants, retail grocers, and institutional cafeterias.”
What has been done about food waste other than collecting data? Over 30 businesses, NGOs, foundations, and government leaders formed a non-profit collaboration, ReFED, in 2015 to reduce food waste in the US. Members of ReFED include Arabella Advisors, Harvard Food Law and Policy Clinic, the City of Phoenix, Food Waste Reduction Alliance,
The panel for the Exploration of the Cold Chain Frontier session, from left: Mark Cywilko( session chair), Pankaj Mehta, Eric Prieur, Kevin Fay, Mark Mitchell, and Steven Finn.
the Walmart Foundation, the City of Seattle, and the Rockefeller Foundation.
On 9 March 2016, ReFED launched‘ A roadmap to reduce US food waste by 20 %’— the first ever national economic study and action plan driven by a multi stakeholder group, committed to tackling food waste on a national scale.
ReFED has set their food waste baseline as 63 million tonnes of waste per year. Of that, 52.4 million tonnes are sent to landfills and 10.1 million tonnes occur on farms. An USD18-billion investment, in 27 solutions to reduce US food waste by 20 %, would yield USD100-billion in societal economic value over a decade. The investment will be in solutions focused on prevention and recovery of food waste, and recycling in the form of composting and conversion to animal feed, to name but a few of the many interventions. Funding will come from private donors, governments, and NGOs. All role players can get involved with the roadmap of ReFED at www. refed. com.
Redefining food waste
From initiatives in the US and UK to reduce food waste, the focus turned to India. Pawanexh Kohli, chief advisor and CEO of the National Centre for Coldchain Development in India, redefined food waste.
“ Food loss occurs when food escapes its intended use, that is, to be eaten! Cold chain mitigates loss of perishable food by taking it to more consumers and by reaching food shelves securely, safely, and in quality. Food loss is not a matter of static measure and its root cause is many times ignored. In large parts of the world, farmers discard their harvest due to lack of logistics connectivity with markets. Trading in farm produce must undergo a transformation so that more fresh harvest finds access to more consumers. Cold chain is that logistics bridge from farms to consumer.”
He then went on to address productivity, shelf life, and harmonising of understanding to collaboration.“ The holding life of produce is extended with the cold chain so that a longer presence on shelf or shelf life is possible, creating more opportunity for producers. Without a cold chain, the holding life is limited, thereby narrowing the range of accessible markets. Shelf life is not to be confused with total holding life. Shelf life is time spent on shelves and at homes. Our capacity to feed our growing numbers is at risk. Climate change and degradation of resources demand that we be careful with what we harvest.”
Stakeholders should harmonise to pool resources, have a common glossary in cold chain practices, and move more food from banks to retail shelves, he recommended. The list of stakeholders is extensive, including self-help associations such as farmers and consumer groups, academic research and training institutes, members of individual associations, industry and government bodies, commercial sectors such as food and equipment sector and investors, consultants, and logistics and
Local fruits for sale at the entrance of a restaurant. A stop at the science museum was also a must.
26 www. coldlinkafrica. co. za COLD LINK AFRICA • March | April 2017