A coalition of Champions from New Zealand's food supply chain who are committed to SDG Target 12.3 - halving food waste by 2030. We advocate, showcase and action food waste reduction.
Take a look at our flagship initiative Kai Commitment, a voluntary agreement for leading food businesses in Aotearoa New Zealand. Initial Signatories Goodman Fielder, Countdown, Fonterra, Silver Fern Farms, Foodstuffs and Nestle welcome other businesses to join them to collectively reduce food waste and emissions across the supply chain.
Collaboration thrives on strong relationships, and at Kai Commitment, we’re always finding ways to bring our signatory team members together. Yesterday, we spent a meaningful afternoon with some of our Kai Commitment team members, packing boxes for the Auckland City Mission.
It was incredible to see how, even in a setting like this, planning and a collaborative spirit made all the difference. Together, we packed over 7 pallets!
A big thank you to New Zealand Food Network for hosting us! The work you do to prevent food from going to waste and ensuring it reaches those in need is so important and it was great to be able to support it.
Amavi MeyMouna Neyogi Michelle Kruger Dr Andrew PrestSarah McMath Alexandria Gifford-Farry
How do we ensure our growers keep growing food for New Zealanders and the world, especially in tough times? Primary producers are the backbone of the food chain, facing seasonal, market, and climate challenges to provide high-quality produce. Recent years have been particularly hard, with disruptions from Covid, floods, supply chain vulnerability and Cyclone Gabrielle, followed by a bumper crop this year leading to low prices (e.g., onions at 80 cents/kg, broccoli under $2). This financial squeeze makes it harder to sustain operations. We know that 20% food loss on farms is 'normal'. I wonder if there is a new normal we can create?
We believe that everyone across and adjacent to the food value chain has a responsibility to make sure growing good quality food in healthy soils is viable. One way New Zealand Food Waste Champions 12.3 Charitable Trust (NZFWC 12.3 Trust) can add value is by bringing together stakeholders who have a role in influencing conditions and outcomes for growers and getting this food to people.
We were pleased to host Minister Andrew Hoggard in the premium growing region of Pukekohe, to showcase the realities of growing staple crops like potatoes, onions, and carrots. Alongside viewing what the stark reality of 20% loss looks and feels like, the visit highlighted innovative projects aimed at reducing food waste and creating more stability for the sector. Particularly a project to process surplus produce into high-value powders and concentrates with the aim of remunerating growers. This promising initiative, spearheaded by Kai Commitment Signatory, AS Wilcox and supported to become a regional opportunity by Christina Rogstad and the Franklin Local Board, has great potential to scale across other regions.
Thanks to Jivan Produce, Masters Produce, Onions New Zealand, AS Wilcox, and Franklin Local Board for sharing your knowledge and supporting this exciting sector-driven innovation.
Dr Andrew PrestChristina RogstadAngela FulljamesChris Morgan
(for context, 1 tonne of onions in this picture were destined to be dumped, joining 30 tonnes earlier in the week, the Agria potatoes bagged in crates were returned due to a few sprouts)
#foodwaste#farmloss#foodsystem#collaboration
This week we held the National Food Waste Summit, co-hosted by WasteMINZ and New Zealand Food Waste Champions 12.3 Charitable Trust (NZFWC 12.3 Trust). I had the privilege of setting the scene, globally and locally as well as wrapping up the day.
The impact of data and culture were two themes that stood out for me from just about every presentation, as well as in our interactive break out sessions.
The bottom line is, we need data, but just as importantly we need to use the data we have, better. And critically, we must normalise food waste reduction until it is in our DNA and BAU across the community.
These, and other key themes from the day, were masterfully captured by illustrator Elise Motalli ✏️ – it’s very powerful to see the many hours of quality conversation and presentations distilled in this way.
We also had an incredibly inspiring showcase from Kyrin Gourley at Foodstuffs South Island, highlighting how they connect their 1200 supply chain staff to food waste; Gemma Donaldson from South Kaipara cut an onion to demonstrate the many layers to their impactful mahi; and Stephanie Cavell from New Zealand Cherry Corp, showing how they are transforming cherry surplus into delicious products.
Sheila Skeaff talked us through the food waste baseline data gathering exercise, we await the data with bated breath for the output, but equally were encouraged to get on with the action.
Sam Oakden from End Food Waste Australia outlined the incredible impact that is possible with a coordinated approach that brings motivated stakeholders together to enact change.
A vibrant panel facilitated by Dame Juliet Gerrard, with Catherine Langabeer, Sam Oakden, Angela Clifford and Joya Kemper debating whether New Zealand needs a food waste strategy. There were constructive challenges batted around, with a very clear action-focused ending.
Importantly, we facilitated interactive break-out sessions, plotting ourselves on the food waste ecosystem, diving into the data we do and don’t have, the drivers of our food waste and how we can better collaborate for impact.
In the end, I prompted everyone to leave with an action to start using the Kai Commitment Target, Measure, Act, Collaborate framework, one that takes another step towards building a culture change, a movement for food waste reduction that cannot be ignored.
Thank you to our speakers, panelists break-out session facilitators and attendees for making it such a valuable day.
A big thank you to Fiona Lavin who brought this summit to life, including juggling all of the tech.
#foodwaste#foodsystem#collaboration
Big mihi to Kaitlin Dawson for putting me forward to talk reduction in food waste and collaboration in action at the WasteMINZ online hui today.
💙 💚 💛
It was a great hui filled with lots of interesting tidbits of what others in the food waste sector (god I hate that that term even exists!) are doing.
Embedding micro interventions, those little things done on the daily (or don't do - put down the 3 for $6 special if you won't even eat 2 of them [internal reflection there 😥]) into our daily lives are integral to solving the larger problem.
Working collaboratively and constructively is a central part of the mahi we do, and as a member of the Aotearoa Food Rescue Alliance, we are proud to be 1 of 37 organisations working to get kai to those who need it most and remove it from the waste stream.
Final takeaway, DATA, BAB-AY! Track it, if you don't - you can't highlight your story and the impact you have.
A new report published by ReFED analyses the methane impact of food waste in the US, revealing that surplus food accounts for an estimated 14% of total methane emissions in the US.
Methane is more potent but has a shorter-term global warming effect than other greenhouse gases, meaning by targeting methane reductions, we can target more immediate global warming outcomes.
By isolating methane emissions, ReFED are able to demonstrate the significant role methane plays in the overall greenhouse gas footprint of food waste.
Here’s what they found:
* More methane emissions come from production of wasted food (62%) than from its disposal (38%). This supports the notion that prevention should be prioritised in food waste reduction efforts.
* Dairy and beef, as well as prepared foods are the categories with the biggest methane footprints in the US.
* Consumer food waste (both in and out of home) accounts for 63% of the entire methane footprint of surplus food.
* The biggest opportunities for methane reductions are: investing in recycling infrastructure that diverts food waste from landfill; addressing consumer food waste through interventions and education and; incentivising businesses to prevent and reuse food waste through the supply chain.
This new data crystalizes the importance of food waste reduction as a climate change action.
See the full report here: https://lnkd.in/gs-j7BJr
We don’t throw away what we value.
While reducing food waste is our main focus, what truly drives our mission is reconnecting people with the reality of what’s being lost when food goes to waste. Food waste is a symptom of our disconnection from and devaluing of the resources that go into growing, raising, and harvesting our food, not to mention all that happens post-farm gate.
This #WorldFoodDay, we are focussing on how the lens of food waste can help build an understanding of what is being wasted when food that could/should be eaten goes to waste.
What’s something you’ve done that has really helped you understand the value of food?
#WorldFoodDay2024#FoodWaste#valuingfood
We don’t throw away what we value.
While reducing food waste is our main focus, what truly drives our mission is reconnecting people with the reality of what’s being lost when food goes to waste. Food waste is a symptom of our disconnection from and devaluing of the resources that go into growing, raising, and harvesting our food, not to mention all that happens post-farm gate.
This #WorldFoodDay, we are focussing on how the lens of food waste can help build an understanding of what is being wasted when food that could/should be eaten goes to waste.
What’s something you’ve done that has really helped you understand the value of food?
#WorldFoodDay2024#FoodWaste#valuingfood
The most simple question I could ever be asked stumped me yesterday - what is food waste?
I couldn’t nail my answer in the 20 seconds I had.
This was asked in a mock interview where I was being asked about government funding cuts and food waste was quoted as being a woke problem we shouldn’t waste our efforts on (not an unbelievable interview situation).
I realised that I’ve lost the simple connection I once had about why I started dedicating time to highlighting why this is something that wastes more in the long run if we DON’T address it.
Valuing our food makes sense on so many levels, recently I’ve had to massage the narrative into 1000 different messages to try and convince the unconvinced of this and it’s thrown me off. It’s exhuasting, demotivating and means I’m off my A-game.
So while I get back to the simple why, I’ll leave this article to convince you that it’s an opportunity that deeply affects us all.
We can no longer use 30% of our land to throw 1/3rd of what we produce, the cost transferred to us as consumers and let 1 in 5 go hungry.
#foodwaste#foodsystem
