Food Waste and Climate Change

Climate Change and increasing level of greenhouse gases are interconnected and most concerning issues of the time. From food growing to consumption there is so much waste thrown out to go to landfill. In landfill, food waste generates methane – a greenhouse gas 22 times more harmful than CO2 (Baker, Fear and Denniss 2009). As per Australian Institute “Household Food waste is accounted for greater than $5 billion worth of food that Australians throws out each year” .(Baker, Fear and Denniss 2009). Food scrap and left over is considered as waste and discarded in many restaurants, hotels, hospitals, major food chains and individual household. Wholesaler then distributes the food to retailers in trucks which produces CO2. Individual Households throw away not required food and the food packaging is then collected by local council who employs people to collect garbage in heavy garbage collection trucks which requires petrol and produces CO2. Every single process from growing food to consumption does not only cost money to the economy but also produces harmful gases such as CO2, methane and other greenhouse gases. Food waste created through individual household in the process of consumption and its effect on climate change, opportunities to minimise household food waste, barriers to addressing the issue, corporate sustainability, technological solution, responsibility of individual household and the role of the government in minimising food waste will be a focus point of this essay.

Source: www.foodwise.com.au

Food waste is considerably very high throughout the food supply chain and different processes (Baldwin 2009, 25). In NSW alone 33% of domestic waste is “food waste” (Michener 2009) which can be recycled to obtain organic compost, avoid landfill and greenhouse gas emissions. Smart food packaging and efficient use of resources are key drivers in avoiding unnecessary food waste during food processes and consumption. Australian food and grocery council recognises the role that packaging plays, the council suggests that packaging reduces food waste prior to consumption by ensuring the quality and hygiene of the product yet some factors such as size of individual household, disposable income, demographic trends, consumer health, safety would impact directly on packaging and may not be in line with waste reduction policy (Australia. Department of Environment, Water Heritage and Arts 2009).

Food retailers provide free plastic bags in order to increase their profit which encourages shoppers to shop more. This is considered to be major barrier in implementation of food waste policy (Baker, Fear and Denniss 2009). Two major environmental issues that Business needs to consider here 1) Offering free plastic bag 2) food packaging. Technology has provided bio-degradable plastic bags but many are suggesting that it creates more pollution than normal plastic bags that are available at the supermarket (Clean up Australia 2009).

Generating organic fertiliser for the backyard gardens and growing vegetable from food waste should be encouraged. Home based composting technology can work much better and assist in solving many issues. Various councils around Australia have taken part to educate their residents on benefit of home composting and reducing environmental footprint. As part of the project council did agree that holistic approach of home composting is more technological and environmentally friendly solution compared to collection of waste through existing garbage collection system and separating it for composting (Michener 2009). Food industry will have to offer local produce in order to combat with the issue of global warming. Advanced technology has enabled hybrid production of various food items with more freshness and taste such as Brightfarms (USA) “greenhouses are high performance, environmentally sustainable, rooftop greenhouses built and operated at supermarket retailers” (Brightfarms 2011)

Food consumed by households requires resources and energy; for example individual purchases food from supermarket and utilises variety of equipment in order to store and prepare food which requires energy consumption and waste management, or an individual or household visits local restaurant where they consume food in exchange of money which pays for energy, food, equipment, wages, waste management and other expenses. Obesity, cholesterol, heart disease and other food consumption related health issues are very common. More food consumed than needed may attract unwanted diseases and that means we need medical support to cure the diseases.

Communities working together, generating locally produced energy & food, reduced transportation and systematic food waste solution can deliver many positive outcomes such as local employment, services, healthy community and reduced greenhouse gas emissions (Osmond 2011). Civil society can play a vital role in supporting and providing food waste solution through variety of locally designed programs such as purchasing food from local farms, community garden or growing at home.

The role of government is very crucial in delivering solutions for Australian businesses and consumers in order to eliminate food wastes (Morgan 2009).  Government of Australia have already embarked upon releasing “National Waste Policy” direction to 2020 which addresses many issues related to resource consumption and waste management (Australia. Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities 2009). The government aims to achieve high level of efficiency in production and resource used, reduce environmental impact and proper waste management. Some council’s around Australia are conducting various researches on how to deal with most concerning issues around climate change and greenhouse gas emissions. Household composting project from food waste is one of the areas where three council’s from NSW have completed the studies. Locally produced food, less transportation, less resource utilisation, high efficiency and waste solutions at home should be the future focus points for our government.

Impact of greenhouse gas emissions especially methane produced from food waste has received huge attention. People are demanding sustainable products from local business and other international firms. As a result of public demand organic food market have grown in Australia in last decade (Biological Farmers of Australia).

Locals will need to comply with rules prepared by councils and government in order to combat with the issues of food waste. Home based or community supported composting should be encouraged. Food packaging will need to be improved in order to minimise packaging waste which goes to landfill as there are no alternatives to recycle the packaging materials. Business should also support and comply with various waste reduction policies of government in order to improve the health of the environment. The council will need to prepare its people, technology and staff in order to implement various concerned policies to fight with the food waste.

Reference:

1.      Australia. Department of Environment, Water Heritage and Arts. 2009 A National Waste Policy:  Managing Waste to 2020- Consultation Paper. http://www.environment.gov.au/wastepolicy/consultation/pubs/nwp-consultation-paper.pdf

2.      Australia. 2009 Less waste, more resources. http://www.environment.gov.au/wastepolicy/about/index.html

3.      What a waste: An analysis of Household expenditure on food. Sustainability in the Food Industry, UK: Wiley Blackwell

4.      Biological Farmers of Australia. 2009. http://www.bfa.com.au/WhyOrganics/BenefitsofOrganics.aspx

5.      Bokashi Composting Australia. http://www.bokashi.com.au/index.html

6.      BrightFarms. 2011. http://brightfarms.com/better-food/

7.      Clean Up Australia Ltd. 2009. Plastic Bags Fact Sheet. http://www.cleanup.org.au/PDF/au/cua_plastic_bags_fact_sheet.pdf

8.      Coles. 2011. Feed your Family. Climate Change 2001: The Scientific Basis. http://www.csun.edu/~hmc60533/CSUN_630E_S2004/climate%20change/climate_change_2001_tech_summary.pdf  :24

9.      IBM. 2011. Smarter Food. http://www.ibm.com/smarterplanet/au/en/food_technology/ideas/index.html?re=spf

10.  http://reduceyourfootprint.com.au/media/uploads/attachments/Sydneys_Compost_Revolution_Lauren_Michener_print.pdf

11.  Fruit and vegetable consumption and waste in Australia. Naturemill Automatic Compost Bin. 2010 http://www.naturemill.com/

12.  OECD. 2002. Towards Sustainable Household Consumption. http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/29/43/2089523.pdf

13.  Walmart Corporate, USA. 2009. http://walmartstores.com/sustainability/9292.aspx