Waste not, want not

More than 700 city-dwellers learnt about achieving a more sustainable food supply by reducing food waste at an industry-sponsored forum at the Sydney Festival 2013.

Held when the city has been abuzz with the month-long arts festival, the “Waste note, want not” forum featured a panel discussion hosted by Target 100 ambassador and journalist Sarah Wilson and including Georgie Somerset, a fifth generation Queensland beef producer.

The forum debunked issues surrounding beef and lamb production including land use, water use, carbon emissions and environmental concerns.

MLA Community Engagement Manager Pip McConachie said the forum presented an opportunity for open discussion exploring the environmental, social, ethical and economic costs of food waste.

“More than half of all food produced doesn’t make it to our mouths. Although there is some wastage throughout the supply chain, the biggest food wasters are consumers, who throw out between 20% and 50% of their food each week,” she said.

“The panelists provided insight into the time, effort, and resources that go into our food, and identified some of the key issues and concerns surrounding what we eat and more alarmingly, what we don't.”

“The issue of food waste is very topical at the moment and provides the ideal platform for industry to emphasise all the care and time that goes into producing great quality beef sustainably. It gives us a non-overt way to connect city people with how their beef and lamb is produced and get across key messages about environmental and animal welfare care."

The forum was sponsored through industry’s sustainability initiative Target 100, along with the NSW Environment Protection Authority’s Love Food Hate Waste initiative.

Source: Meat and Livestock Australia, 23 January 2013