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Published: 2 July 2014
Australia takes part in global UN initiative to cut food waste
Australian leading food rescue organisation, OzHarvest, is partnering with the United Nations to tackle the issues of food and nutrition security and sustainable food systems at upcoming Think.Eat.Save events to be held across the country on Monday 21 July.
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Food waste is currently costing Australians up to $10 billion each year, while two million people here still rely on food relief. Credit:
Thinkstock
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Some of the nation’s top chefs, politicians and celebrities will participate in the events, to be held in Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne and Newcastle. They will help serve thousands of people a free hot meal made from surplus produce that would have otherwise ended up as landfill.
In partnership with the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and the UN’s Food Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Global Initiative on Food Loss and Waste Reduction (SAVE FOOD), OzHarvest will lead the Think.Eat.Save campaign in Australia to raise awareness on global food loss and waste reduction.
Founder and CEO of OzHarvest, Ronni Kahn, pointed out that around 1.3 billion tonnes, or one-third, of all food produced for human consumption gets wasted and lost along the supply chain.
‘Our modern day challenge is to create a sustainable food culture that can be shared by all, where we waste less at all levels of food production, distribution and consumption,’ Kahn said.
‘Small actions can affect change and united, our actions will make a huge positive impact on our planet.’
Naysan Sahba, Director of Communications of UNEP said: ‘In the next few years, food consumption is expected to increase by around 30 per cent due to population growth, while the effects of climate change are expected to reduce agricultural yields by up to 5 per cent in some areas.
‘We do know, however, that cutting the rate of food loss and waste in half by 2050 would close 20 per cent of this food gap.
‘To bring about the vision of a truly sustainable world, we need to transform the way we produce and consume our food, which effectively means the way we consume our natural resources.
‘This is what we at UNEP and our partners like OzHarvest are striving to influence with the Think.Eat.Save campaign and we thank OzHarvest for continuing to champion the campaign in Australia and beyond.’
Source: OzHarvest
