Food waste is a major contributor to climate change. We know how to solve it. Now is the time to take action, says Toine Timmermans.

Zero-waste food chain must take top priority in climate agenda

With the end of the pandemic in view, a familiar and much more dire crisis awaits our renewed attention: the crisis of climate change and the dramatic decline in biodiversity and essential resources. Throughout society, there are calls to make our country more sustainable and economically more robust.
One solution that would positively affect all of us can be found on our plates, in our lunchboxes, in our fridges and unfortunately all too often in our waste bins. Besides greater investments in wind and solar energy, reducing food waste is the most important measure to take to reduce global CO2 emissions. It is the most feasible and effective step we can take towards the establishment of a more sustainable food system. It is also better for the wallet (both for families and businesses), and everyone can join in the effort.
As it stands, we still waste 2 billion kilograms of food per year in the Netherlands. That’s 100 kilos of perfectly good food for every person living in this country. It’s a traffic jam from Utrecht to Barcelona consisting entirely of bumper-to-bumper trucks stuffed to the brim with food. And it’s all food and drink that people poured care and effort into growing, cultivating, processing, transporting, cooling or heating, and packaging. In our current system, food waste appears to be a generally accepted structural flaw. That is why we need a more sustainable, more circular food system. A system in which production and consumption are better balanced and in which we talk not about surpluses, but about resources that are always reused in beneficial ways.
<h2>Commodity market</h2>
A sensible approach to food is a crucial component of climate policy. World-wide, the CO2 emissions caused by food waste almost equal the total carbon output of China or the USA. For maximum impact, we must produce less to feed more people. This will also reduce the required amount of land and prevent deforestation, leading to more nature. The remaining organic waste flows from food production can be locally and cleverly processed into other products suitable for human consumption or cattle feed.
This will also reduce our dependence on the global resource market. In short, there is more than enough reason to rearrange the efficient food chain that the Netherlands is known for in a super effective manner. There is a wealth of technological solutions and knowledge about chains and human behaviour simply waiting to be used. Now is the time for action and upscaling.

Consumers will also need to change their mentality, since a lot of waste comes from households. Furthermore, the further up in the chain that food is thrown away, the greater the impact on the environment. After all, a great deal of energy has been put into the processing, transport, packaging and preparation of food by the time it reaches us. Reducing waste can be achieved simply by tailoring our shopping more accurately to our families’ needs and planning our meals better. Every heel of bread and over-ripe piece of fruit counts. Campaigns and education about food appreciation, based on a positive social principle, can contribute to lasting behavioural change.

Mentality

The Netherlands is working on the United Nations’ sustainable development goal to reduce food waste by half in 2030, as compared to 2015. Time is short, but with a systematic, collective approach involving everyone from producers to consumers, we can do it. In the public debate, leftist and right-wing soapboxes have been mounted, with terms like land use and ecological footprint being bandied about. Fingers are generally pointed at a single party, demanding that either the government or the corporate sector takes on various responsibilities.
In reality, it’s not that simple: what we need is an approach that covers the full breadth of society. All members of society must pitch in, not to correct a mere flaw, but to change the very system. The Dutch approach to reducing food waste together shows that this is possible.
<h2>Soapboxes</h2>
Many companies, knowledge institutes and social organisations recognise the value of collaborating to create zero-waste food chains. The government, too, must roll up its sleeves. An overarching, interdepartmental resource policy is needed, since at present there is often some friction between the ambitions of the various policy domains. Strict food safety legislation currently requires kitchen waste from cafes and restaurants to be composted or incinerated, for example, whereas businesses are able to safely process this waste on an industrial scale into cattle feed.
Another example: our current climate policy offers financial incentives to ferment or incinerate waste flows from the food chain (biomass) in order to produce sustainable energy. Yet these flows could be reused more effectively to produce organic resources, cattle feed or even food for human consumption. Right now, the most sustainable and circular choice is often not the most economical one.
The Netherlands will only achieve the CO2 reduction goals if curbing resource loss and food waste is made into a cornerstone of our climate and food policies. Incorporating this statement into the coalition agreement is a minimum requirement to encourage a mentality change among consumers, entrepreneurs and legislators – so that zero-waste production and consumption can become a matter of course.

Toine Timmermans is the director of <a href="https://samentegenvoedselverspilling.nl/">Samen Tegen Voedselverspilling </a>(Together Against Food Waste) 
 
 
Source: <a href="https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2021/05/05/verspillingsvrije-voedselketen-moet-bovenaan-klimaatagenda-a4042463">Verspillingsvrije voedselketen moet bovenaan klimaatagenda - NRC</a>