Food waste: What is the root of the problem?
The supermarket we visited in Paris was a thing of beauty.
All high ceilings, polished floors and on the well-ordered shelves there was, of course, a cornucopia of food choice.
Here the consumer lacks nothing - typical of all modern supermarkets in France and the UK. And that’s the problem.
The way we all shop for food now - the demand that our every recipe whim can be catered for - (What, you don’t have black spaghetti?) – means that massive, daily food waste is inevitable.
In France alone, more than seven million tonnes of food are thrown out every year.
It’s a modern scandal however you look at it - perfectly good food heading for the landfill.
The legislation in France to redistribute some of that food waste to the poor looks admirable from a distance.
But when we closely examined it, we found some problems:
Some of the supermarkets don’t like the way they are being forced to do something they were already doing on a voluntary basis
The supermarkets can still ignore the new law as there is no “enforcement” or checks written into the legislation
But perhaps most importantly, talking to the consumers, retailers and activists in France, we concluded that this new law doesn’t address the root problem of waste.
The way we choose to shop, the way we demand so much choice is available to us, means that supermarket waste is inevitable.
And often, the way we shop – encouraged to buy more than we need as consumers with the likes of “three for one” offers - creates consumer food waste too.
Only when consumers demand less choice can food waste end.
Until then, this pioneering French law may increase awareness of the problem and help some of the poor in France.
But it is unlikely to prevent the millions of tonnes of edible food being thrown away each day across the world.