Boroume
Boroume (“We Can”) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to reduce food waste and to fight malnutrition in Greece.
ID: 150956023176-82
Lobbying Activity
Response to Establishment of a methodology of measurement of food waste
26 Mar 2019
We commend the Commission’s recognition of food waste as an urgent issue which needs to be addressed to ensure environmental sustainability – and the obligation on member states to measure food waste is an excellent step in this direction.
However, we are concerned that food that is ploughed back in or left to rot in fields has been excluded from EU measurement. Between 11-34% of EU’s food waste occurs at primary production level, and the majority of this is left in the field. Harvest food waste is food that is mature enough to be ready to harvest, but wasted at the harvest stage through being left to rot or ploughed back into the field. It is vital that the EU provides guidelines to enable member states to at least voluntarily report their harvest food waste.
Additionally, the Commission needs to urgently clarify that food wasted at later stages of the supply chain, but then returned to their agricultural suppliers to be ploughed back into the field, should be measured as food waste at the stage of the supply chain where it is wasted, before it is returned to the farm. Otherwise, this is a significant loophole which could perpetuate and worsen the current situation of companies dumping food waste on their agricultural suppliers.
If it is not legally possible to include harvest food waste in compulsory measurement, the Commission should:
• Add harvest food waste as an additional point (f) under Article 3 which member states can voluntarily report on – defined as edible food that is mature and ready for harvest but wasted at the harvest stage by being ploughed back in or left to rot in the field
• Provide examples of some means of harvest food waste measurement in Annex III and IV – such as physical measurement, crop-cutting surveys or visual assessments.
• Recommend as best practice to member states that they measure and report harvest food waste
• Fund several member states to conduct pilot studies of harvest food waste in their countries
Please find in attachment a policy paper produced by Feedback and Safe Food Advocacy Europe, detailing the argumentation supporting our view on this draft.
There are many cases of farmers who are forced to plough whole fields of produce back into the soil, or leave thousands of tonnes of their produce in the field due to factors like cosmetic outgrading and last minute order cancellations from retailers each year. Measuring harvest food waste would help EU farmers avoid the costs of food waste, reduce Unfair Trading Practices and carbon emissions, liberate nutritious food for EU food security, and save valuable land. Separating farm food waste from the Waste Framework Directive would force member states to treat farm food waste in silo, punishing farmers for food waste which is often the result of retailer policies. Not providing guidelines for measurement of harvest food waste will send the message that this is insignificant, inhibit member state measurement and reduction of this food waste, and harm farmers and the environment.
Yours sincerely,
Alexander Theodoridis
Co-Founder, CEO Boroume
Greece
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