Major players from the worlds of food retail and hospitality along with social media influencers and chefs have joined forces to pledge ground-breaking action to drive down food waste during the ‘Step up to the Plate’ Symposium which took place on 13 May 2019 in London.
Environment Secretary Michael Gove and Minister Thérèse Coffey were among the first to sign up to the pledge – which includes a goal to halve food waste by 2030.
The pledge asked attendees of the Symposium to reduce food waste by:
- Setting an ambitious target to halve food waste by 2030 in line with UN Sustainable Development Goal 12.3.adopting the WRAP and IGD Food Waste Reduction Roadmap to have half of all 250 of the UK’s largest food businesses measuring, reporting and acting on food waste by 2019.
- Embracing a Food Conversation week of action in November 2019 to highlight the changes we can all make.
- Using their voice and profile to empower and encourage citizens, including the younger generation.
- Changing their habits as an individual to be a Food Value Champion at work and at home, buying only what they need and eating what they buy.
Currently around 55,000 tonnes of surplus food is redistributed from retailers and food manufacturers every year. It is estimated that a further 100,000 tonnes of food – equating to 250 million meals a year – is edible and readily available but goes uneaten. Instead, this food is currently sent away for generating energy from waste, anaerobic digestion to be used for fuel and fertilisers or animal feed.