The 2024 National Food Waste Summit kicked off on the 24th of July in Melbourne-Naarm, where experts and industry leaders – including from Coles, Simplot, Sodexo, McCain Foods, and Goodman Fielder – are rallying to tackle this national challenge.
Australians are throwing away a staggering 7.6 million tonnes of food every year, worth $36.6 billion while millions of families are grappling with growing living costs.
The Wire’s contributor Jahan Rezakhanlou asked Francesca Goodman-Smith, Acting Director, at Food Waste Australia about the issue of food waste in Australia and the National Food Waste Summit.
Jahan Rezakhanlou: Thank you for joining us, Francesca.
Francesca Goodman-Smith: Pleasure. Happy to be here.
Jahan Rezakhanlou: What can you tell us about this latest finding from End Food Waste Australia?
Francesca Goodman-Smith: So food waste is an astronomical challenge not just in Australia but globally. And the facts and figures that we refer to regularly are the ones from the National Food Waste Strategy feasibility study that were actually published in 2021, but are still very relevant to our food supply chain today. And they state that in Australia we waste 7.6 million tonnes of food every year. It’s enough to fill the MCG to the brim almost ten times every year.
Jahan Rezakhanlou: Is it on a more micro level or are big corporations responsible for a lot of this food waste?
Francesca Goodman-Smith: Food waste happens across the entire food supply chain, from the farm all the way through to our plates at home, and there’s different proportions of food waste that are wasted across that supply chain. But consumers are responsible for around 50% of this food waste. So although the other 50% happens throughout the rest of the supply chain, there’s a significant amount that’s happening in our homes.
Jahan Rezakhanlou: How does this coincide with the cost of living crisis? Is this an opportunity for Australians to understand how much money is being lost through food waste?
Francesca Goodman-Smith: It is absolutely. So this equates to 29 million meals a day that are being wasted and costs the average Australian household 2500 dollars every year.
Jahan Rezakhanlou: What are some precautions that people can take to prevent food waste?
Francesca Goodman-Smith: So we did a study on food waste and households, and the study looked at quantifying the amount of food waste in households and also looking at the best interventions that people can take to help reduce their food waste. And so some of the key recommendations from that were to shop with a list. So when you’re going into the store write down what you need. And that avoids unnecessary purchasing of addition