WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY AIMS TO CURB FOOD WASTE
Posted June 5, 2013 in Food Product Design
Check out my latest e-book entitled: "Social Media Marketing in Agri-Foods: Endless Profit and Painless Gain".
ELMWOOD PARK, N.J.—Today is World Environment Day (WED) and in support of its "Think.Eat.Save" theme, Sealed Air Corporation joins the effort to encourage action to eliminate food waste, which currently exceeds 1.3 billion tons each year.
Through its SmartLife™ initiative, Sealed Air Corp. has focused its R&D efforts on solutions that eliminate waste throughout the entire value chain. It highlights that food processors can reduce food waste by preventing contamination and production yield loss and by ensuring food is distributed without damage or spoilage to retailers and restaurants. Retailers can also help by reducing in-store prep losses, damage and product expiration prior to sale. The foodservice segment can contribute by providing meals and ingredients in portions to match varying customer demands and by extending food quality life while minimizing product loss during storage. Also, at-home food waste can be lessened by proving consumers more shelf life for perishable products, reducing spoilage or damage during storage and enabling food portioning that helps with meal planning.
"With regard to food waste, we are more conscious of the impact our actions have on the environment yet our society throws away billions of tons of edible food each year that ends up in our landfills, releasing methane gas into the atmosphere," said Ronald Cotterman, Ph.D., vice president of sustainability at Sealed Air Corp.
Consumers throw away nearly as much food as they eat, devastating our environment, communities and the economy. In the United States, food waste consumes 300 million barrels of oil each year, is responsible for one quarter of all fresh water consumption and represents an economic loss of $160 billion per year. Wasted food translates into lost profits for famers and producers, higher prices for consumers and reduced food security for those who cannot afford enough to eat.
A 2012 report from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations revealed nearly 50% of all fruits and vegetables in the European Union go to waste, with losses occurring during agricultural production, processing, distribution, in the supermarkets and by the consumers. According to the report, 20% of the fresh produce is lost due to accidental damage during threshing or fruit picking, damage by insects, mechanical damage and/or spillage during harvest operation and crops sorted out post-harvest following quality requirements by supermarkets and other companies. The lack of tuning between supply and demand is another reason for losses.
Through its SmartLife™ initiative, Sealed Air Corp. has focused its R&D efforts on solutions that eliminate waste throughout the entire value chain. It highlights that food processors can reduce food waste by preventing contamination and production yield loss and by ensuring food is distributed without damage or spoilage to retailers and restaurants. Retailers can also help by reducing in-store prep losses, damage and product expiration prior to sale. The foodservice segment can contribute by providing meals and ingredients in portions to match varying customer demands and by extending food quality life while minimizing product loss during storage. Also, at-home food waste can be lessened by proving consumers more shelf life for perishable products, reducing spoilage or damage during storage and enabling food portioning that helps with meal planning.
"With regard to food waste, we are more conscious of the impact our actions have on the environment yet our society throws away billions of tons of edible food each year that ends up in our landfills, releasing methane gas into the atmosphere," said Ronald Cotterman, Ph.D., vice president of sustainability at Sealed Air Corp.
Consumers throw away nearly as much food as they eat, devastating our environment, communities and the economy. In the United States, food waste consumes 300 million barrels of oil each year, is responsible for one quarter of all fresh water consumption and represents an economic loss of $160 billion per year. Wasted food translates into lost profits for famers and producers, higher prices for consumers and reduced food security for those who cannot afford enough to eat.
A 2012 report from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations revealed nearly 50% of all fruits and vegetables in the European Union go to waste, with losses occurring during agricultural production, processing, distribution, in the supermarkets and by the consumers. According to the report, 20% of the fresh produce is lost due to accidental damage during threshing or fruit picking, damage by insects, mechanical damage and/or spillage during harvest operation and crops sorted out post-harvest following quality requirements by supermarkets and other companies. The lack of tuning between supply and demand is another reason for losses.
Sources:
The book is available on Amazon and Kindle for $4.99 USD. Visit amazon/Kindle to order now:
http://www.amazon.ca/Social-Media-Marketing-Agri-Foods-ebook/dp/B00C42OB3E/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1364756966&sr=1-1
Written by Bruce MacDonald, a 30 year veteran of the Agri-food industry, in "Social Media Marketing in Agri-Foods: Endless Profit and Painless Gain", Bruce applies his background and expertise in Agri-foods and social media to the latest trends, tools and methodologies needed to craft a successful on-line campaign. While the book focuses on the Agri-food market specifically, I believe that many of the points Bruce makes are equally applicable to most other industries.
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