figuring out food- what we do matters
When we think of the biggest problems in the world, sometimes we overlook our own role. I know I do.
How can our everyday decisions make a dent when we compare them to the scale of corporations and governments? Well, as I’ve come to learn, in the case of hunger, nutrition insecurity, food waste and food recovery – what we do does have a big impact.
A few years back, blank space developed the Healthy Living Coalition, a collective of 30+ brands committed to food system transformation, in partnership with our client WeightWatchers. Bringing companies like Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, Panera Bread, WWF, Beyond Meat and Chobani to the table, we were able to identify some key barriers to unstable access to healthy nutritious food.
As usual, I embarked on this work by engaging with large corporations at the center of the solution; and yet, I found that in reality, our individual habits are a big part of the problem.
Did you know that households are the greatest source of food waste in the US?
From what we eat, how it was made, the farm it grew on, the condition of the soil, the packaging it comes in and how it gets to our table…
…to how much we buy, take home or throw out – this entire system was created around our behavior patterns.
37% of all surplus food is generated by individuals, and the average American family throws out $1,600 a year in produce, reports Feeding America.
Good news is that our daily decisions may hold the key to creating a more sustainable food system.
Reshaping shopping, cooking, and eating environments that promote better food management is essential. Is it possible for restaurants to encourage smaller portions? Should brands stop promoting super-sizes to buy more? How much meal planning is realistic in a busy household or when you are constantly traveling?
What is the formula to balance how much food we really want, eat, and can afford?
As you read through this week’s newsletter, please take a second to reflect on how changing some everyday ‘food decisions’ could generate less landfill and more food options for those who need it most.
Natalie
WHAT THE FRIDAY!
We are in a full-blown nationwide food insecurity crisis. 40 million Americans are unable to access the basic nutritious foods they need to live healthy and prosperous lives.
Every year, the U.S. discards more food than any other country in the world. And globally 1/3 of all food produced annually in the world is lost or wasted.
Rotting food is now the largest component in American landfills, making up over 20% of municipal solid waste. On top of that, we spend $400 billion a year on processing, transporting, storing and disposing of the food that’s never even eaten.
Business has been a part of the problem for too long. So what are industry leaders doing about it? Just a few days ago, blank space was on the ground in DC leading advocacy efforts alongside the Healthy Living Coalition (HLC) for a change in policy that would clarify food donation and make it MUCH easier and safer for companies to donate surplus food to people in need.
Led by US Representative McGovern (D-MA), the Harvard Food Law and Policy Clinic, Food Tank, WW, blank space & the HLC, the press conference on the Hill brought together 200+ Members of Congress, staffers, corporations, nonprofits and advocates in support of the Food Donation Improvement Act.
I still have questions about how the legislation will be implemented, regulated, and enforced; my hope is that this event shows pressure is mounting at the federal level. With 6,500 viewers tuning in via livestream and over 42,000 people signing the HLC’s consumer petition- it’s clear that the people are ready for change. Stay tuned for more on this and our upcoming work at the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health.
dive deeper
Globally, 1/3 of all food produced in the world is lost or wasted each year. If food waste was represented as its own country, it would be the third largest greenhouse gas emitter, behind China and the US. (UN-EP)
We produce more than enough food in the world. We could feed the world’s nearly one billion hungry people on less than ¼ of the food that is wasted across the US, UK and Europe. (UN-EP) Food that is produced and uneaten makes up roughly 30% of the world’s total agricultural land area (FAO)
An estimated 30-40% of the entire U.S. food supply is wasted every year. This equates to roughly 219 pounds of waste per person (RTS).
musings on it all:
"I think food is a fundamental human right. Of all the things to worry about, people shouldn't have to worry about access to good, nutritious food." - Rep. Jim McGovern
"We can all be foot soldiers on the battlefield to defeat hunger in our life." - Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee
By wasting food "we're devaluing not just the food, but we're devaluing the people who are responsible for feeding us." - Tom Colicchio
"We're growing our power, we're growing our ability to fight food waste and fight insecurity at a level that's exponential." - Natalia de los Rios, high school student advocate
my advice: Our food system is facing a reckoning- we must work across sectors, combine resources, audiences and leadership to prioritize access to good food for all. And we must start with evaluating our own food decisions first.
what do I mean:
In order to find a viable, long-term solution, we have to take a systems-approach to this work - the underlying causes of food insecurity and waste are directly related to issues like socioeconomic disparities, race and gender dynamics and access to education.
Climate change important to you? Methane is 86x more warming than CO2 and responsible for nearly 1/2 of global warming to date.
Care about gender equality? Women and girls are more likely to suffer from hunger, malnourishment, and food insecurity.
The hidden environmental, health and poverty costs of current food sector practices are estimated at $12 trillion a year, and expected to rise to $16 trillion by 2050.
We need to work across the entire food system to find solutions that are forward-thinking and inclusive of many voices - from offering a living wage to philanthropy to promoting wellbeing in the communities you serve.
ReFED’s 2030 roadmap covers the gambit with an action plan for reducing US food waste by 50%. It’s smart for business too- shifting to sustainable business models in the food and agriculture sectors could generate $2.3 trillion in revenue and 80 million jobs globally by 2030.
By addressing issue areas with a systems lens, we can improve access to nutrition and transform our food system to leave no person, community, or region behind.
do something:
Are you a brand that wants to do more? Join us in the Healthy Living Coalition.
Our 2030 action plan commits to:
Strengthening wellbeing at work: by shifting corporate practices to achieve nutrition security for all those we employ.
Deepening our understanding of the issues: by educating ourselves and our stakeholders on nutrition insecurity and its underlying causes.
Raising Awareness: by engaging our marketing platforms to help shift the narrative, advocate for policy change and motivate public activations.
Transforming philanthropy: by reimagining corporate giving and funding organizations that address systemic inequities that cause nutrition insecurity.
Accelerating social entrepreneurs with business-led solutions: by finding innovations that help close the nutrition gap.
Are you inspired to make some changes? Steps to get started at home:
Take time to better understand expiration labels
Best if used by: quality of the product may decrease by given date, but is still safe to consume after that date.
Use by: highly perishable products with food safety concerns over time.
Learn how to compost food scraps to keep food out of landfills and reduce greenhouse gas emissions over time.
Donate excess food to food pantries instead of throwing it away.
Give alternative proteins a try to help reduce food system emissions. Going meatless just 1 day a week, decreases your meat consumption by nearly 15%.
something cool
Imperfect Foods -and it’s not just because they are a partner in the Healthy Living Coalition. By recovering fresh produce and grocery items that would otherwise be thrown away and making products with reclaimed ingredients, they are disrupting the food delivery game for the better.
why we think it should be on your radar
Imperfect Foods has built an innovative infrastructure that recovers food from brands and farmers who have excess inventory; imperfections -such as bumpy carrots or oversized tomatoes; products nearing their sell-by date; outdated packaging; or leftover ends and pieces. These would all typically be considered waste and instead are up-cycled into something new.
Join us in getting a box of ‘ugly oranges’ delivered to your door, so you too can feel good about being a small part of the solution as you sip on your ugly, fresh squeezed mimosa next Sunday afternoon.