Strategies For Food Waste Management

An anthropologist named Timothy W Jones spent 10 years, including 8 years under grant from US Department Agriculture, in studying and measuring food loss . He started from in the farms, went through warehouses, retail food outlets, dining rooms and finally landfills.
Jones, during his research, found not only is edible food discarded that could feed people who need it, but the rate of loss, even partially corrected, could save U.S. consumers and corporations tens of billions of dollars each year.
The research further stated, On average, households waste 14 percent of their food purchases. Fifteen percent of that includes products still within their expiration date but never opened. Jones estimates an average family of four currently tosses out $590 per year, just in meat, fruits, vegetables and grain products.
However, some strategies can help reduce food waste at homes and in restaurants.

1. Prevent food waste at source and supply chain -

Food waste starts right from production, continues throughout the supply chain till consumption. As per the data from United States , Canada , Australia and New Zealand, 20 percent of fruit and vegetables are lost during production, 12 percent are lost at the distribution and retail level, while 28 percent are lost at the consumer level. Similarly in seafood, 11 percent is lost during production, 5 percent lost during processing and packaging, 9.5 percent lost at the distribution and retail level, while another 33 percent lost at the consumer level.
One of the ways of reducing food waste in restaurants is purchasing in line with the daily sales. Storage, too, plays an important role in food waste prevention . Storing food at the right temperature slows down the bacterial growth, increasing longevity of the food.
2. Redistribute excess -
Social activists and NGOs have always encourage restaurants, supermarket owners to distribute the excess amount of food . Food manufacturers and retailers can contact food distribution organisations for the purpose of food donation . Distributing excess food on shelf can serve two purposes with one stonefeeding the hungry and reducing food loss .
There are a lot of food donation programs that allows supermarkets and grocery stores to donate food that is not fit for sale but safe for consumption. Donating such food can help reducing food waste , which otherwise would have gone in the landfills.