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Project:Food Rescue/Concept: Difference between revisions
adding an impact assessment
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== Motivation == | == Motivation == | ||
Food waste is a problem for society as a whole, with enormous consequential damage to the environment and the climate. For example, over 12 million tons of food are thrown away every year in Germany alone,<ref>Figures from 2015, according to a study by the University of Stuttgart. See: [https://www.zeit.de/wissen/2019-05/lebensmittelverschendung-haushalte-essen-muell-deutschland article on zeit.de].</ref> | Food waste is a problem for society as a whole, with enormous consequential damage to the environment and the climate. For example, over 12 million tons of food are thrown away every year in Germany alone,<ref>Figures from 2015, according to a study by the University of Stuttgart. See: [https://www.zeit.de/wissen/2019-05/lebensmittelverschendung-haushalte-essen-muell-deutschland article on zeit.de].</ref> and about 40% of that in households. A key factor is the best-before date. If it is exceeded, many throw away even unspoiled food because of uncertainty. The best-before date is an overly carefully date chosen by manufacturers, often even amounting to deception of the consumer: at the request of supermarket chains, manufacturers sometimes provide products that are produced at the same time but carry different best-before dates. | ||
Unspoiled food needs a real chance of being eaten. This is not only climate protection and environmental protection, but ultimately also relevant for the global implementation of the human right to adequate nutrition. Hunger is only a distribution problem! | Unspoiled food needs a real chance of being eaten. This is not only climate protection and environmental protection, but ultimately also relevant for the global implementation of the human right to adequate nutrition. Hunger is only a distribution problem! | ||
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According to the same study, the reasons given by consumers for throwing away these still edible food items are: concerns about food expiration / edibility after storage (58% of cases), too large portion sizes (21%), bad amount selection at the time of purchase (12%). It can be assumed that, in the majority of cases where consumers were concerned about edibility of edible (!) food after storage, an expired best-before date raised these concerns. When throwing away for example rotten vegetables, it is not counted in this statistic. In a minority of cases, consumers might wrongly assess a food item to be inedible, while in fact it is. For both sources of the edibility concern, better information can help. | According to the same study, the reasons given by consumers for throwing away these still edible food items are: concerns about food expiration / edibility after storage (58% of cases), too large portion sizes (21%), bad amount selection at the time of purchase (12%). It can be assumed that, in the majority of cases where consumers were concerned about edibility of edible (!) food after storage, an expired best-before date raised these concerns. When throwing away for example rotten vegetables, it is not counted in this statistic. In a minority of cases, consumers might wrongly assess a food item to be inedible, while in fact it is. For both sources of the edibility concern, better information can help. | ||
With this information and the 40% of food wastage happening in households (also referred in that study), we can calculate the possible maximum impact of an app that properly informs about food expiry: 40% × 58% = 23.2% of all food waste in Germany could be avoided. The same or similar apps could also help with amount planning for cooking and shopping, solving the two other main reasons consumers give for wasting edible food. This project focuses on expiration dates and edibility assessment, as this makes up 58% of the food wastage issue at consumer level. | |||
== Approach == | == Approach == | ||