MEET 3 SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURS COMBATTING FOOD LOSS AND WASTE

Today (29th September 2021) is the International Day of Food Loss and Waste. 2021 is the first year that this day has been celebrated, and what a year for it to be honoured. The theme is “Stop food loss and waste. For the people. For the Planet.”  This day recognises the fundamental role that sustainable food production plays in promoting food security and nutrition. It also contributes to the fight for Zero Hunger (Sustainable Development Goal 1), Responsible Consumption and Production (Sustainable Development Goal 12), and Climate Change (Sustainable Development Goal 13). 

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect everything we do in the world from school, work, our patterns of consumption, it is also important to note that it is having a large impact on the food industry. There are constant disruptions in supply chains, measures involving quarantine, along with the closure of much of the hospitality industry. All of these have resulted in a loss of markets for producers, making it even more difficult to deal with high levels of food waste. At the other end of the supply chain, there has been panic buying and stockpiling by nervous consumers, making it impossible for food and resources to be donated to those that need it. The sad reality of this is that most of the food gets discarded and lost as food waste.

THE IMPACT OF FOOD LOSS AND WASTE

Reducing food loss and waste is significant in a world where the number of people affected by hunger has been increasing since 2014, along with tons of food being lost (in production, retail, etc) and/ or wasted every day. When food is lost or wasted, the resources that were used to produce the food- water, land, energy, labour, and capital- all follow. This also has adverse effects on climate change, as more waste is left in landfills and more and more greenhouse emissions are created.

To maximise the food that we produce, actions are required both locally and globally on all levels so that waste and loss are minimised. It requires a lot of attention from all involved, including, food producers and food supply chain stakeholders to food industries, retailers, and the consumers.

On a smaller scale, there are also social enterprises and organisations working to combat food loss and waste. Here are 3 Social Entrepreneurs that we have had the pleasure of supporting at We Make Change that is working towards combating food loss and waste.

SIBO

Sibö was founded with the purpose to lead the food industry sustainably. By creating innovative biomaterials using insects, they are able to develop a series of solutions for different industries that can use them as a base for their production.

When asked about the benefits of Sibö, Alejandro Ortega mentioned: ‘we have been able to reduce food waste and CO2 emissions, along with ‘reduce the land space from traditional agriculture and prevent malnutrition.’

Not only is Sibö a frontrunner in new technologies tackling food waste and loss, but the Social Enterprise has also supported rural communities. ‘All of our solutions are created using insects grown by families and women in rural areas in Costa Rica’. In doing this, Sibö has been able to provide jobs and a fair trade supply chain, thus, tackling Sustainable Development Goal 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth).

ORBISK

Orbisk was founded under the principle of sustainability. Globally, around a third of the food we produce is wasted before it is consumed, contributing 8% to CO2 emissions.

The Social Enterprise introduced the world’s first fully automated food waste monitor. When asked how it works, Olaf van der Veen mentioned that ‘the camera runs an AI image recognition algorithm that recognises ingredients and images, allowing us to register what food is wasted and why.’

Orbisk aims to save an estimated over 4,000 kilos of food waste for an average-sized restaurant, worth €20,000 - €60,000, thus improving sustainability and profitability.

OTTAN STUDIO

Ottan Studio is a Turkish Social Enterprise that addresses resource depletion. ‘We’re extracting 75% more than Earth can sustain’ while ‘wasting 1.3 billion tonnes of food annually’. Ottan Studio states that a major way that the climate crisis is sustained is that people are over- producing and over- consuming.

Their solution to this enormous problem is finding a sustainable sourcing solution that doesn’t consume natural resources the way that they are used now. They have developed a technology that upcycles food and agriculture waste into ‘bio- composite materials that can be used to produce products such as furniture and housewares.’

When asked to delve into the benefits of their technologies, Feriha Saadet  Erden Yasa stated that their ‘solution is simple and highly scalable… we use fruit peels for furniture, nut shells for floor covering and grass for acoustic wall panels’.

Food loss and waste is an extremely important issue that needs to be addressed. These 3 Social Entrepreneurs are paving the way for change through innovative and creative technologies that are needed to sustainably address the issue for future generations. 

Originally published on the We Make Change blog.