Unveiling The Inconvenient Truth of Food Delivery Apps: Exploring Waste and Sustainability
In our contemporary, fast-paced society, food delivery apps have seamlessly integrated into our daily routines. However, amidst the convenience they offer, a stark truth demands our attention — the environmental impact and sustainability challenges they pose.
Exploring Waste:
The magnitude of waste generated by food delivery apps and our consumerist culture is staggering.
Annually, in the UK alone, £1.2 billion worth of fruit, vegetables, and bread is disposed of, with households contributing 10 million tonnes of food waste yearly.
Factors such as over-ordering, lack of awareness about the food production system, and single-use packaging exacerbate this issue. Alarmingly, the UK emits 25 million tonnes of greenhouse gases annually, 5% of which originate from food waste. Moreover, transportation logistics fuelled by non-renewable resources intensify carbon emissions and air pollution, accelerating climate change and environmental degradation.
Addressing the Issue:
The roots of this problem lie within the food industry and its producers, shaping consumer habits. However, consumers wield significant power over the future of consumerism. By embracing slower consumption and delayed gratification, individuals can prompt food producers and delivery services to adapt accordingly. Thus, to confront this challenge, people must educate themselves about food management and its environmental impact.
Learning How to Manage Food:
Recent surveys, such as the WRAP survey on food waste, reveal a growing trend among consumers: a desire to change habits and enhance knowledge about managing food and waste, along with improving cooking abilities. While seemingly mundane, reverting to traditional habits and rejecting the fast-paced instant gratification of online ordering can prioritise a more holistic approach to food consumption.
Educating yourself:
Understanding the carbon footprint of food production and transportation is a crucial starting point in realizing the impact of food consumption on the planet. Initiatives like the Food Labelling (Environmental Sustainability) Bill and the Foundation Earth pilot on eco-labelling are steps in the right direction, yet they remain uncommon practices.
The Foundation Earth pilot, utilising traffic light-style eco-labelling, assesses key criteria: water usage, water pollution, biodiversity loss, and carbon emissions, across all stages of the product lifecycle.
All stages of the product’s lifecycle are assessed — farming, processing, packaging and transport to assess the environmental impact.
The weighting is as follows:
Carbon emissions — 49%
Water usage — 17%
Water pollution — 17%
Biodiversity loss — 17%
This marks progress, but consumer education remains essential. Encouraging seasonal shopping and removing the veil of ignorance surrounding food choices are necessary steps. The UK’s proposed eco-food labelling consultation in 2024. signals a promising direction.
Concluding Thoughts:
Consumers hold significant influence over the food market, as the system was designed to cater to their needs. By shifting consumer mindsets towards mindful consumption and reducing food waste, positive change within the system is possible, paving the way for a more sustainable future.
Engaging in conversations about food management, reconsidering ordering habits, and embracing food redistribution apps like Olio and Too Good To Go are meaningful steps towards driving this change for current and future generations.
