Our Role in the Fight Against Food Waste
Let’s start with some particularly alarming facts about food waste:
- Nearly 1/3 of food produced around the world ends up as waste.
- If food waste were a country, it would be the third largest emitter of greenhouse gasses, responsible for 10% of the world’s emissions.
When we consider these facts, it’s clear that food waste is a massive and complex problem. Governments, organizations, individuals and companies all have a role to play in addressing it.
In that spirit, Sodexo was recently included in the Age of Change series presented by WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) and content partners, and produced by BBC StoryWorks Commercial Productions which featured some of the steps we’re taking to reduce food waste. This series highlights impactful initiatives around the world that are addressing urgent global sustainable development challenges.
This video was produced for Sodexo by BBC StoryWorks Commercial Productions. It showcased our WasteWatch powered by Leanpath program in action at ECU Health at Beaufort Hospital in Washington, North Carolina.
Why measure food waste?
WasteWatch powered by Leanpath allows us to measure and track how much food is wasted at individual sites every day. This innovative program is deployed across 2,025 Sodexo sites in 30 countries, but why?
“Tracking wasted food gives us data, and when we have data, we can make lasting changes to address the issue. These changes include how we manage our kitchens and the way we plan menus, and they also include raising awareness and letting our consumers know what they are wasting too. Each small change makes a difference, and data is how we’ll drive improvement.”
What is WasteWatch?
The WasteWatch program enables us to track and measure food waste, and then generate more awareness around how to better avoid it. The program gives our employees insight and power to drastically reduce food waste everyday.
How much have we saved so far?
We’re committed to reducing our food waste 50% by 2025, compared to 2017 levels. Since 2015, our WasteWatch powered by Leanpath program in North America has enabled us to save more than 37,000 metric tons of carbon emissions and about 12 million pounds of food from being wasted. We’ve also saved the equivalent of about 131 million bathtubs full of water.
While we can be impactful because of our size as an organization, our teams and our partners are how we really make a difference. Our partners, like WWF, provide technical knowledge and insight around this issue that enable us to drive change with our food waste reduction strategy and carbon reduction action. Each and every employee using the WasteWatch program is contributing to reducing food waste every day.
We also recommend looking for ways to reduce your food waste on a smaller scale - because every little bit of help plays a greater part in global sustainability. A great place to start would be checking out AARP's Smart Guide to Reducing Food Waste, where you'll get 49 tips on how to make the most of your groceries, reduce costs and help save the planet.
We must do more for future generations and we haven’t finished yet.
Find out more about the different ways we are reducing food waste.