Hi all, According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), at least one-third of food produced globally is wasted. In China, a staggering 349 million tons of food, which represents nearly 30% of the country’s total production, goes uneaten each year. A recent government survey found that urban restaurants alone wasted over 34 million tons, which is enough food to feed up to 49 million people. Tackling the food waste crisis is critical for China to meet its climate goals. The country promised to begin reducing carbon emissions by 2030 and be carbon neutral by 2060. Responding to this urgency, One Planet Foundation launched a program called Pride on our Plates in September 2020 in partnership with the World Wildlife Fund, Rare Europe, and Rare China Center for Behavior. The program works with micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) to implement food waste reduction strategies, mainly through staff training, increased consumer participation, and an MSME Food Waste Policy Proposal that supports governments at various levels to tackle food waste across China. Rare conducted research early in the program and found that 54% of MSME owners did not believe that food waste was a problem at their restaurant. One of the ways that the program shifted this mentality was to implement a monitoring system whereby staff were required to weigh and record the different types of food waste they encountered. They also engaged staff at all levels by creating a public commitment wall where staff pledged to take specific actions that would hold them responsible for reducing food waste. For example, “I will remind customers to take leftovers home”, “I will create dishes using leftover ingredients”, and “I will attend a training session on reducing waste”. Restaurants that created a public commitment wall had on average 63% of staff reporting that they had a very clear idea of what actions they could take to reduce food waste. In contrast, restaurants without a public commitment wall had on average only 36% of staff reporting that they had a very clear idea of what they could personally do to reduce food waste. In addition to commitments for staff, customers were engaged through targeted messaging while ordering online. At one restaurant, Rare incorporated messages into online menus and restaurant signage to prompt customers to order meals in moderation. Interestingly, messages appeared before customers placed their order, emphasizing that ordering meals in moderation positively reflects a person’s character. Another message said, “please join the commitment to clear your plate”, inviting customers to reduce plate waste after placing an order. Over one month, there was a 48% reduction in plate waste per customer at that restaurant. Overall, the Pride on our Plates program has been successful. Participating restaurants have experienced a nearly 20% reduction in food waste compared to baseline data. Rare is now hoping to scale its work to more cities across China, making important steps in achieving national and global food waste reduction targets. For more information on this exciting program, click here and here.
