MONITOR: From supermarkets to corner stores, many shops are throwing out good food that should be eaten, a new book claims
THE EQUATION MAY be a simple one, but in these frugal times it seems to make no sense – if the retail price of a food item is two, or even three times its cost price, it is better to waste a few than run out, from the retailer’s point of view. The profit margins and the low cost of food-waste disposal influences what retailers see as “affordable”. Empty shelves give the wrong signal.
This may well be the first day of August, when our thoughts are of barbecues and poached salmon, but Tristram Stuart thinks we should be considering not what we eat, but what we throw away. His book Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandalis a salutary look at what we choose not to eat and what we don't see.
Nip out the back of any supermarket, according to Mr Stuart, and you are likely to find enough edible food to keep you going for some time. But he is not just critical of supermarkets. Corner stores, convenience stores, even organic stores are, he says, throwing out good food that should be eaten by us or by livestock.
From a waste perspective, the most “efficient” retailer is, he says, the stall-holder at a farmers’ market. Those who have direct control over stocking, a knowledge of sales patterns, and a short supply chain are most effective. If something doesn’t sell, the price can be cut instantly and the laws of supply and demand will correct the problem. If there is leftover stock it can be recycled, by turning it into something else, such as chutney or jam, a cooked dish or salad, or making compost or animal feed. All, he says, are valid ways of using up a precious commodity.
Supermarkets globally have become hugely efficient at food management. They move food like no-one else. Why? Because we demand it. If we didn’t want access to food from far-flung places, there would be no rationale in providing it. “Throughout the developed world, food is treated as a disposable commodity, disconnected from the social and environmental impact of its production,” he writes.
If affluent nations stopped throwing food away, or to put it another way, shopped more carefully and thoughtfully and considered waste an integral and important part of food management, the effect would be enormous – not just on our shopping bills, but on the world’s remaining natural ecosystems and on climate.
Wasting food is wrong, it is negligent behaviour, and always has been. Too many people go hungry for us not to be concerned, yet taking action has never been more difficult. Control over our food supply may be efficient, but it is also frighteningly remote and unchangeable. Linking back to food production in a direct and tangible way is not easy. But the reasons for exploring it are becoming more urgent every day. harnold@irishtimes.com
Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal, by Tristram Stuart, is published by Penguin (£9.99)