Food Waste Crisis: What Foodservice Operators Can Do

IS A GLOBAL PROBLEM OF FOOD WASTE BREATHTAKING SCOPE 1/3 1.3 of all FOOD globally is WASTED. BILLION tons of food are NOT CONSUMED. AND IT'S A PROBLEM {THAT'S GROWING IN THE U.S.} 40%. of food grown or raised in the U.S. is NOT EATEN. 1974 50%, RISE in U.S. food waste 2003 IT'S COSTING A LOT OF MONEY... ANDA LOT OF RESOURCES. 25% OF ALL FRESHWATER and 300 MILLION BARRELS of oil $ $250 BILLION are used to produce food that is wasted. lost globally every year IT'S FOOD WASTE is the single largest FILLING UP component sent to American LANDFILLS. LANDFILLS AND TAKING A HUGE It's a significant source of METHANE – a potent greenhouse gas with TIMES THE TOLL ON THE ENVIRONMENT. 21 GLOBAL WARMING potential of carbon dioxide. Food waste is responsible for 135 MILLION TONS of greenhouse GASES every year, or about 1.5% OF GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS GLOBALLY. AND WITH FOOD COSTS RISING, THAT'S EVEN MORE DOLLARS GETTING TRASHED. They rose during the last ten years. 42% 1 8%0 in 2011 alone. Food costs have increased OF THIS PROBLEM STEMS FROM HOW M UCH U.s. FOODSERVICE OPERATIONS? $8-20 BILLION of 4-10% of food purchased is THROWN OUT before reaching a plate. pre-consumer waste generated by the U.S. out-of-home restaurant and foodservice industry every year. Pre-consumer waste is the kitchen waste that occurs before the food even reaches a guest, from OVERPRODUCTION, SPOILAGE, EXPIRATION and TRIMMINGS. It's within the control of the foodservice operator and can be prevented! solving THE FOOD WASTE CRISIS WHAT FOODSERVICE OPERATIONS CAN DO Diversion strategies, like composting, are important but don't get at the source of the problem. It's like ignoring a broken, gushing pipe in your kitchen and focusing only on mopping up the water. FOCUS ON PREVENTION. how? by tracking your food waste. TRACK DAILY. Measure everything you're throwing away so you can diagnose problems, set baselines and dig into what's driving the waste. MAKE CHANGES TO PREVENT IT. Use the data to make changes to menus, purchasing and production. FOCUS ON CULTURE CHANGE. TALK ABOUT FOOD waste openly, KEEP IT POSITIVE and encourage everyone to help solve the problem. MAXIMIZE FOOD WASTE REDUCTION WITH TRACKING SYSTEMS HELP FOODSERVICE OPERATORS AUTOMATED REDUCE WASTE BY AS MUCH AS 80%: TRACKING SYSTEMS and SAVE 2-4% OR MORE on annual food purchases. Lean Path Infographic produced by LeanPath, creators of automated food waste tracking systems. The path to food waste prevention starts here: Www.leanpath.com. SOURCES: United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization | National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases McKinsey and Company | CleanMetrics | U.S. Producer Price Index for finished consumer foods | LeanPath