Food waste
In recent years there has been a lot of discussion in politic and media about food waste. Some countries have made laws to reduce food-waste. In France supermarkets aren’t allowed to waste food. They have to give it for free to homeless people before they waste the food. Germany has similar laws for food waste like France. Here in Switzerland we don’t have any laws for food waste in supermarkets. They are allowed to throw away what they want.
In Switzerland supermarkets are responsible for only 5 % of the all the food that gets wasted. Around 50 % of the food gets wasted at home. But the food that is wasted from supermarkets is most of the times good food, while private households waste the food when it’s not eatable anymore. So the food that is wasted in supermarkets gets wasted for no reason in most cases.
Interviews
We have made interviews with a owner of a little farmshop:
How much food do you waste?
Nearly nothing. Only products like eggs or milk are very tricky to store.
Which food get wasted the most by you?
Eggs, because they are the trickiest products and get bad very fast.
Why do you throw away the food?
Because otherwise you can get a food poisoning. This would be bad for our reputation and we can get sued.
Have you done arrangements against the food waste?
No, we dont do anything, because the demand is not planable. We look that we waste as less food as possible.
Would you eat food which is older then the “best before date”?
Yes, nearly in every case. In milk and meatproducts we look very carefully. Naturally we cant sell food which is over the best-before date, because it is not alloud.
Have you a bad conscience when you throw away good food?
No, because we only waste food which you cant consume anymore.
Do you attach importance to the spotlessness of an apple for example?
No, I dont tend to, because external flaw does not mean that the food is not good anymore.
If you have the choose between an older product and a fresh one which would you take? Both are eatable?
I would tend to fresh food, but I would never waste food, which is over the best-before date but edible.
Do you have a solution against the food waste in supermarkets here in Switzerland and as well in other countries?
You can give the food for example to poor people.
Solutions for the food waste in supermarkets
There are many solutions for the problem. Supermarkets can give away the food which is over the best before date for free. This is also a possibility for poor citizens to spend less money. In this less food gets wasted and you help poor people. But there is also a downside with this method. If the supermarkets are forced to give the bad food away for free, nobody would buy any food, but wait until the food is over the best-before date and would get it for free then. We think this cant be the solution.
Another solution would be, that they have to give the bad food to welfare recipients for free. We think this would be a great idea, because the supermarkets can sell their food for the normal price in most of the times, but less food gets wasted. Also only poor people get the food for free.
Added comment from the writers:
Food waste has a huge effect on climate change. Food waste is responsible for 8 % of the Co2 balance sheet. In Switzerland supermarkets are responsible for 5 % of the food waste. So supermarkets are responsible for 0.4 % of the balance sheet. So the food waste in supermarkets is only a small problem in terms of climate change. The most food gets wasted at home. So we are responsible to reduce our food waste and make a little step into a sustainable world.