Page 49 - Food&Drink Magazine Aug-Sep 2021

FIAL: Start now, do everything
Unprecedented efforts starting now are required to halve food waste by 2030, the National Food Waste Strategy Feasibility Study says. Kim Berry writes.
THE Food and Agribusiness Growth Centre’s (FIAL) release of the National Food Waste Strategy Feasibility Study found that the 7+ million tonnes of food we waste every year –
70 per cent of which is edible – not only costs the economy $36.6 billion every year, but wastes agricultural land larger than Victoria (25+ million hectares) and 286 litres of water per person, per day.
The study has updated the national food waste baseline, tested different scenarios to determine their feasibility, developed a recommended scenario trajectory, and collated a clear evidence base to underpin the actions needed.
A key feature is the inclusion of an open access Data Dashboard, providing the underlying data sets that the study draws on. It means industry and government stakeholders can filter the baseline, identified hotspots, and scenario data to extract key insights relevant to their sector, commodity or intervention type.
The study drew up four food waste reduction scenarios from “business-as-usual” to “do everything”, which entails “significant but plausible investment” in innovation, fiscal and financial incentives, high regulation, high impact trajectory for voluntary
agreement, high citizen engagement and industry involvement.
The upshot is that “Do everything” is the only technically possible option that would deliver the target. No other lever will be sufficient, FIAL says.
The “Do everything” scenario compiles 23 core interventions covering behaviour change campaigns; policy led interventions; and industry led interventions.
Industry led initiatives provide the most cost-effective approach to reducing food waste but only once a supportive policy framework is in place, FIAL says.
Combining policies that support and stimulate the private sector with voluntary, industry led initiatives produces the combination of levers with the best chance of halving food waste by 2030 within a feasible investment range.
Crucially, household waste will need to be reduced by a minimum of 30 per cent for any chance of halving Australia’s food waste. ✷
Visit www.fial.com.au to access the report.
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