Here’s what you can do to reduce food waste

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South Africa is a country of contrasts. We may moan about load-shedding yet, at the same time, we are the first to crack a joke about Eskom turning off the lights. And while this ability to look inward is what makes us so endearing, South African citizens have also shown their resilience in facing challenges head-on. 

Earlier this year, it was reported that one in 10 South Africans go hungry every day. And, in the most unequal country in the world among the 164 countries in the World Bank’s global poverty database, this hunger crisis exists side by side with a growing food-waste problem. 

Food waste is a recognised global issue and in South Africa 10-million tonnes of food is wasted annually — a third of the 31-million tonnes produced in the country each year, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature South Africa. 

Ordinary citizens unintentionally waste food while restaurants, food producers and large grocery stores have faced harsh criticism for discarding food that was still edible. To counteract this negative publicity, campaigns showing these companies’ commitment to reducing food waste and promoting food security have taken centre stage in the last few years. 

Despite this, savvy consumers have been quick to point out that many of these corporations are simply greenwashing their efforts and not taking actionable, transparent steps to tackle the issue. 

Locally, retailer Woolworths has been a good example of the impact that a transparent food-waste and food-security strategy can have on communities. The retailer donates surplus food to more than 1 000 charities annually, has pioneered date labelling to preserve shelf life, utilises fit-for-purpose packaging and promotes sustainable farming practices to its suppliers, while using oddly shaped fruit and vegetables for its prepared foods. 

It has published a Food Waste and Food Security Position Statement that outlines its initiatives that support food security and a reduction in food waste and releases an annual Good Business Journey Report that tracks its progress and partnerships with not-for-profit organisations.

While Woolworths and other retailers’ efforts are laudable, ordinary citizens have a role to play, too. 

Sure, we can commit to only purchasing from retailers with a sound food security and food waste mandate or eating at restaurants that promote sustainable practices but there are other ways we can make an impact, without leaving our homes. 

For one, advice on how to ensure our food lasts longer prevails online, while there are many creative ways to use leftovers in new dishes. Another solution is to recycle our food waste, ensuring food doesn’t end up in landfills, while also returning organic matter to the soil through processes such as composting. 

This circular economy process — one where the modes of production and consumption involve sharing, reusing and recycling — coupled with integrated resource thinking, offers various benefits, including wasting less food, providing food security to those who need it most and contributing to a regenerative agricultural system. This is  an alternative way to produce food that strengthens the health of the soil and can increase biodiversity, improve the water cycle, enhance the ecosystem, support biosequestration and increase resilience to climate change.

Curbside food-waste recycling services and compost drop-off centres have made it easier than ever for ordinary citizens to collect and recycle their food waste. Similarly, the Covid-19 lockdowns, which saw everyone and their gran turn to gardening, proved that home composting can be done by anyone. 

Technology has also made it easier than ever to get rid of food waste, with our iCompost solution being just one example. This gadget, and others like it, which look right at home on your kitchen counter, take household kitchen scraps and produce healthy, fertile compost in just a few hours. 

These practices, whether utilising old-school methods or turning to innovative technology, have been taken up by South Africans across socioeconomic lines to help tackle the hunger that has become so rife. In turn, it also responds to the overwhelming food-waste problem.  

As with other movements, South African citizens who have embraced these practices have unintentionally banded together to make an impact on others and their communities. And, as with challenges we have faced before, we continue to show our resilience and sense of ubuntu in rebuilding our society and our environment.

Himkaar Singh is the founder of The Compost Kitchen, which works to improve soil health, and is the developer of the company’s first product iCompost, which aims to reduce food waste by encouraging more people to compost at home.

The views expressed are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Mail & Guardian.