What changes could be made: part 1
In the previous Step, you explored who might effect change and where within the system these changes could occur. Let’s now consider what changes these stakeholders could make to effect food loss.
Changes could be financial, technological, policy-related or behavioural. Considering the stakeholders outlined above, here are some practical examples of how each group can better understand, measure and/or reduce food loss.
Farmers
| Change | Impact |
|---|---|
| Invest in new technologies and maintain machinery | Less damage to harvested crops |
| Measure and report on-farm food loss | Informs decision-making and supports the changes implemented in practice |
Workers
| Change | Impact |
|---|---|
| Measure and report where food loss occurs | Greater ability to identify and address the most significant areas of food loss |
Retailers
| Change | Impact |
|---|---|
| Promote imperfect fruit and veg and raise awareness of the environmental cost of food loss | Enable consumers to make an informed choices to reduce food loss |
| Work with producers to ensure more flexible contracts | This could enable more food currently rejected for aesthetic reasons to enter the food chain |
Consumers
| Change | Impact |
|---|---|
| Buy imperfect produce and different varieties | Make more informed choices |
| Buy food that may otherwise be discarded | More mindfulness about the quantity and impact of food loss |
| Join a gleaning group (to gather left-over produce from the fields after harvest) | Direct action to reduce food loss at the source |
Policy makers
| Change | Impact |
|---|---|
| Timely and easy-to-arrange agricultural work permits | Agricultural workers available and able to work at time of harvest |
| Make funding available to support changes in farming practice to reduce food loss | Farmers are able to explore and invest in practices to reduce loss |
| Raise awareness of the impact of food loss on the wider food system | Public awareness of impact of food loss on environment, business and beyond |
| Make food loss reporting a requirement | Clearly understanding the scale and nature of food loss is the first step towards tackling the problem |
| Introduce policies on food loss measurement and reduction incentives | Drives targeted action to tackle the causes and consequences of food loss |
Technology developers
| Change | Impact |
|---|---|
| Work with farmers and agronomists to better understand and track food loss | Technology is adapted or updated to better support food loss measurement and reduction |
| Develop crop and livestock monitoring systems | Improve crop and livestock health outcomes to reduce food loss |
- What other practical suggestions would you add for any of the stakeholders in the table above?
- How might different stakeholders work together to reduce food loss?
Share your thoughts in the Comment area below.
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