Waste reduction organisation WRAP has expanded the reach of the UK’s Food Waste Reduction Roadmap with a new guide providing growers with advice on how best to measure food surplus and waste on farm to identify the causes; and help inform where action is needed.
Developed in collaboration with leading trade bodies and industry organisations, the Food Waste Reduction Roadmap Grower Guidance includes two practical ‘how-to’ guides and dedicated tools for in-field measurement. WRAP, the body which developed the Food Waste Reduction Roadmap with IGD, designed the new resources to help growers apply the principles of Target-Measure-Act to their operations at this key stage in the food supply chain.
Peter Maddox, Director WRAP, said, “Reducing food surplus and waste is a huge opportunity for the sector. We estimate that around 3.6 million tonnes of food either goes to waste on farm each year or is surplus to requirement. That’s a potential £1.2 billion loss to the sector – equivalent to seven per cent of the total food harvest.
“Measuring food surplus and waste is the first step to tackling the problem, and our guides will show where action is needed on farm. They are intuitive to use and set out the actions necessary to measure consistently to make comparisons over time, and between growers.”
Earlier crop-specific assessments by WRAP found that around 19 per cent of all lettuces went unharvested in 2015, with 38,000 tonnes lost across the sector – worth £7 million. The guides are available at https://wrap.org.uk/roadmap-grower-guidance.
Photo Caption: WRAP estimate that on-farm food losses cost the industry up to £1.2 billion a year.
Photo credit: staticflickr