LEGISLATION
Not going to eat that? How surplus food should be redirected to the poor
SA’s retail sector is best primed to have a real impact on food waste, writes Louise Naudé
It is estimated that a staggering one in five SA households is food insecure, with more than 13-million people routinely experiencing hunger. This is a contravention of the constitution, which enshrines access to food as a right. In light of the government’s commitment to the UN Sustainable Development Goals — which include ending poverty; ending hunger; achieving food security and improved nutrition; and ensuring sustainable consumption and production patterns, including the aim to "halve per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer level, and reducing food losses along production and supply chains by 2030" — it is inconceivable that about a third of the food produced in SA goes to waste every year. Surplus food is still perfectly edible and safe for human consumption but will not be eaten because it has either failed to meet aesthetic standards or it has surpassed its sell-by date. It is most often treated as waste and diverted, at worst, to landfill sites or else used ...
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