Driving Action to Tackle Food Loss Across the Food Value Chain in 2023

NO TIME TO LOOSE (FOOD)

TEAM  10 – CLASS B-EST (2022-2023)

At the beginning of 2022, YPP team 10 came together and decided to contribute towards SDG 12.3.

More specifically SDG 12.3 which by 2030 seeks to halve per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels and reduce food losses along production and supply chains, including post-harvest losses.

Team Class B-est (referring to the “class B” food that is now wasted) found out through their research that a significant percentage of food is being wasted at production level both in the Netherlands and globally. One of the main reasons was that this “class B” food could not be sold to supermarkets. This food is then wasted or used for purposes other than human consumption. The goal was set to reduce the percentage of this food waste and help foundations or the less fortunate in the process.

During the year, the team realized that the project was too ambitious for a one year program and swiftly changed actions while keeping in mind the original goal of the project. This decision came after engaging with experts, ranging from farmers to policy makers and supermarkets to academia, which uncovered some of the complexities around food loss.

Team B-est therefore decided to host two interactive round table discussions, bringing together key stakeholders to discuss the challenges and (collaborative) opportunities to reduce food loss. The first discussion was for producers of (open land) produce, and the second for the customer of these producers. The findings from the virtual roundtables served as input for a report, which was presented during a physical event to the Food and Agriculture Ministry (NL) and other key stakeholders. The event, which attracted over 100 participants, provided a platform for experts to discuss viable solutions, meeting our goal to end the event with participants committing to making a step forward to reducing overproduction and the loss of class B produce.