Where will my next meal come from?
There are certain days in every year that force me to stop and appreciate what I have. Last week saw World Food Day and it proved to be one of these days. It’s a sobering thought that while I’m sitting here with so much choice for my next meal, millions of people across the globe are thinking where will my next meal come from.
How can it be that 800 million people currently suffer from hunger, while 1.9 billion – more than a quarter of the world’s population – are overweight. In the food and drink industries we have a moral responsibility not to hide from the fact that people across the world are starving while one third of the food produced worldwide is lost or wasted.
I salute the UN for its ambition to achieve #ZeroHunger by 2030 but the enormity of its challenge cannot be underestimated. The lines between the haves and have nots are nowhere more starkly drawn than when it comes to food and with the population set to increase to nine billion by 2050, this contrast will only expand further if not challenged.
Increased productivity and efficiency in the dairy industry can help support an increasing population. The farmers which own Arla fully commit to the exploration of new possibilities, from autonomous cow feed production to 3D printing of foods (yes, you read that right, 3D printing of food). As an industry we must be open to exploring how new practices and technologies may benefit our food production.
But, the challenge of those already suffering from hunger is one that I find much more disturbing. It surrounds us all; every day in every country. If you look to the UK, statistics from FareShare (the UK’s largest charity fighting hunger and food waste) state that 8.4 million people in the UK are struggling to afford to eat. As the Managing Director of a UK food business, this is not something I can simply ignore.
At Arla UK, we were and have been wasteful. In 2015 a review of food waste and disposal routes showed that a significant quantity of food was being wasted in our UK warehouses. The reasons for this were perfectly understandable with additional stock required to accommodate frequent late changes in demand from our customers – an inevitable consequence of our commitment to good customer service. And there we could have left the story, that food waste was the cost of doing business well.
Instead we set up a team to put this perfectly good food to a better use and a decision was made to partner with FareShare, the UK’s largest charity fighting hunger and food waste.
I am extremely proud of the team that established this partnership and those who have continued to develop it beyond its origins. In 2016, Arla provided 171 tonnes of food to FareShare – that’s enough for 271,000 meals. In 2017, by the end of September, Arla had been able to provide the equivalent of over 500,000 meals for those charities. As a business, it’s not easy to set up and maintain these commitments and there are costs and risks associated with stepping outside the traditional business methods. But, just one conversation with FareShare or someone who benefits from their support and there is no doubt about the need or the moral requirement to rip up the rule books when it comes to food waste.
So as I reflect on World Food Day I’ll take this back to the office with me. It is so important we maintain a dairy industry that is sustainable and resilient, able to invest in solving the challenges of an expanding population and prepared to do its bit to ensure #ZeroHunger by 2030. It’s vital to the 800 million in need now and the 9 billion in the future.