We can all be a part of reducing food waste
There are a lot of incredibly intelligent people working on solving food waste. We’ve talked about it in the past – Australia has an epidemic of food waste, and this is something we can all help resolve.
Interestingly, the advice from the experts backs up some of what we’ve been advocating for, and what every one of you that buys a Good & Fugly box is helping with. This is a community effort, and if you’re reading this blog, there is every chance that you’re a big part of the solution.
1) Helping everyone understand how important it is to fight food waste.
Households count for over 50 per cent of food waste in Australia. This happens for all kinds of reasons – we let our veggies go past the point of being edible, or we throw away parts that we weren’t aware of.
Learning how to make your own stock, soups, smoothies and stews, using up those “cutoff” parts of produce, and making good use of refrigeration and freezing techniques can go a long way to ensuring every bit of food is put to good use. We’ve had Fugly fans tell us about how they’ve learned how to pickle excess items in their Fugly boxes, and now it’s a favourite family activity! Experiment, get creative, and make use of the amazing recipes out there. Most importantly, share this information! We need to get as many people involved as possible.
2) Breaking the “business as usual” approach to crop purchasing
One of the challenges that we have in Australia is that a lot of food waste is created in the chain from farmer to household. In addition, these practices tend to affect farmers negatively, making it harder for them to invest in more sustainable farming.
For consumers, the solution is simple – vote with your wallet! Sourcing your produce from farm-to-door services like Good & Fugly, or heading over to your local farmer’s markets to buy produce (and more!) direct from the producers is a great way to pressure the entire supply chain to reform and become better at minimising food waste.
3) Supporting local and regional food hubs
If you ask anyone involved in sustainable food production, they’ll tell you that regional food hubs are critical. The closer you can source your produce, the less food is going to go to waste (and as an added sustainability bonus, getting the food to your door will consume less carbon).
To achieve this, local farmers need to be viable. This means that local restaurants and catering services need to source produce locally, and that consumers have an easy way to purchase the produce for themselves. One of the key priorities for Good & Fugly was to engage with local and community growers, so our boxes are always filled with the freshest produce. It's good for your dinner table, and it helps cut back on produce getting thrown away.
These are just some of the ways that we can reduce food waste. Remember, the goal is to cut it in half by 2030 – it's a big task!
