Today is International Food Waste Awareness Day and New Zealand’s Food Waste Champions are calling on political parties to commit to halving food waste by 2030.

“New Zealand does not currently have a national food waste reduction target. We are lagging behind countries representing 50% of the world’s population, including Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom. This needs to change”, says Champions’ Co-Chair Miranda Mirosa.

Setting national food waste targets can create widespread change, across government, businesses and the community. The time is ripe to start tackling food waste and ensuring that we have sustainable and secure food systems.

“Once government sets the direction, we believe businesses will come on board. We’re starting to see this globally, with two thirds of the world’s largest food businesses having adopted SDG 12.3. On top of this, many food businesses are measuring their food waste and taking action to reduce it. We encourage a target-measure-act approach for New Zealand businesses too.”

Covid-19 has highlighted issues in the food supply chain, and food waste is a big issue. “New Zealanders and the Government are responding through new innovations and investment, such as the New Zealand Food Network (which redistributes surplus food around the country to the people who need it most) but more could be done”, says Champions’ Co-Chair Deborah Manning. “We must make the most of this opportunity to increase efficiencies, for the climate, socially and economically”.

“Urgent action is needed because wasted food generates 8% of all greenhouse gas emissions, more than any country apart from the United States and China. Reducing food waste has been ranked by Project Drawdown as the third best action we can take to combat climate change”, says Champions’ Co-ordinator Tessa Vincent.

The Champions’ are presenting to politicians their petition to halve food waste by 2030, with a special webinar on International Food Waste Awareness Day. You can find the zoom details here: https://events.humanitix.com/international-food-waste-awareness-day-nz-political-panel-online

About New Zealand Food Waste Champions 12.3

New Zealand Food Waste Champions’ are a coalition of individuals working across the food supply chain who are wanting to accelerate progress toward the global Sustainable Development Goal Target 12.3 – to halve food waste by 2030. They have support and expertise from organisations like Countdown, WasteMINZ and the Sustainable Business Network.

New Zealand Food Waste Champions’ petition has other supporters, including: United Nations Association NZ, Generation Zero, WWF, Greenpeace and Beef + Lamb.

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