Reduce Food Waste. Fight for Food Security.
This is Part 3 of the Food Insecurity series focusing on food supply chain inefficiencies and utilizing technology to minimize current inefficiencies.
Read Part I or Part II here.
Problem
As a nation, we overproduce food and then distribute it poorly. Current food distribution chains are inefficient, wasteful, and more likely to feed livestock, cars, and landfills rather than people. We’re wasting resources, losing money, and most importantly, leaving too many members of our community hungry.
According to the Food Bank for New York City, nearly one out of every four children in New York City suffers from food insecurity. Innovating our agriculture and improving our food distribution is the first step to ending this crisis in our community.
Our Plan
Food producers, distributors, and sellers must innovatively reduce waste to help us fight food insecurity.
Incentivize companies to utilize food waste management apps which provide analysis and dynamic pricing of food.
Improve precision agriculture.
Invest in low-cost processing technologies.
Strengthen localized and decentralized food processing sites.
Improve delivery by using intelligent routing technology that will reduce unnecessary stock movement and improve food longevity.
Prioritize local supplier-buyer relationships.
Promote the use and selling of imperfect and upcycled foods.
Minimize inefficient handling of food in supermarkets with staff training.
Clearly label sell by and expired by dates on packaging.
Educate consumers on food preservation.
Develop plans of distribution of foods that are still good, but past sell by dates from restaurants, fast food chains, and grocery stores to organizations supporting those in need.
This Matters
Reducing food waste is essential for a healthy environment and for supporting communities facing food insecurity. These changes need to be in tandem with social policy changes such as increasing funding for SNAP benefits and the affordability of healthy food.