Food Waste Intelligence

In its 2020 Environmental Report, released March 2, Google announced its food waste prevention success: 9.2 million pounds prevented since 2014, through its work with Leanpath in hundreds of Google Cafes around the world.

“We constantly devise inventive solutions to repurpose food and to compost and donate leftovers wherever we’re legally able to do so,” the report states. “However, we’ve learned that the best way to reduce food waste is to prevent it in the first place by tracking data and making adjustments.”

Throughout 2020, headlines reminded us of the disruptions the pandemic was having on the global food system. The images of food waste accumulating on farms and milk being dumped because distribution networks were shut down were stark reminders of how fragile the food system is. Put against the increased number of people going hungry as economies faltered, the public was left with a clear message: something has to be done about food waste.

With that clarity, it is no surprise the issue of food waste topped annual trend forecasting reports for consumers, the foodservice industry and legislators.

According to a new report, the energy, transportation and manufacturing sectors could drastically reduce their carbon emissions, but the world still wouldn’t hit Paris climate agreement targets because of greenhouse gases from the food system. A staggering reminder of the need to prevent food waste, among other food system improvements.

Waste 360's Nothing Wasted Podcast sat down with Leanpath Co-Founder and CEO Andrew Shakman to discuss food waste as a "nexus issue": the fact that when you prevent food waste, you also prevent other bad things from happening. Food waste prevention reduces greenhouse gas emissions, it stops fresh water from being squandered growing food that only gets wasted, and it leaves valuable resources in the food system for those who are food insecure. It's a big deal. Hear Andrew elaborate on this and other topics. Go straight to the podcast here. 

Healthcare is the most complex foodservice segment by far. Most have some mix of retail foodservice, catering, physician dining, other services like day care, and, of course, patient feeding with its clinical demands. Perhaps as a result of the complexity, healthcare foodservice, compared to other segments, also sees the highest rates of food waste, based on Leanpath data.