A recent airport visit gave me a new perspective on challenges commercial food production faces with consumers. While hunting for coffee, I came across a retail kiosk with cups sitting out. Sadly, they did not have coffee, but an employee came over to see if she could help me. I told her no thank you, and she moved toward an adjacent self-serve display with various unwrapped baked goods.
She commenced to throw seven of these awesome “$4-muffins” into the trash. I asked what she was doing. She said she did this every day, placing the day-old pastries in the trash before she put fresh pastries in the display. I asked her how many she threw out each day, and she said six to eight. She has never eaten any of the baked goods, she said.If she tasted one without purchasing it, she would lose her job.
I asked why the company didn’t coordinate with other airport food vendors to have the day-old products collected and donated to a homeless shelter or food bank. She stated it currently was not a policy for the airport.
I got coffee from a different spot and walked away disheartened. I started talking to a lady at my gate who ironically was eating a muffin. We stewed about this wastefulness. I started pacing and walked back to the kiosk.
The back of their display discussed offering fresh, seasonal, healthy and sustainable provisions which are locally produced on small farms. Many consumers would take the statements on this kiosk as fact; however, this business’s food waste is in direct conflict with its stance on sustainability.
I strongly believe this business’ management does not recognize the negative impact this waste has on the sustainability of their business. Perhaps the business policy is due to fiscal sustainability or the cost to facilitate efforts to use and not waste food.
Stealing sustainability
Food insecurity is a real challenge. Efficient commercial food production is a driver to mitigate food insecurity. Food waste continues to be part of insecurity. In the developed world, most waste is from retail or foodservice prepared food. In the developing world, it is the lack of infrastructure to harvest or transport food in a timely manner.
I am pro-niche market, value-added, direct-to-consumer. However, pork from a pig with a ribbon in its hair does not mean it is more or less sustainably produced than commodity pork.
As an industry, we are far from perfect. We occasionally have people who do stupid stuff that can compromise consumer confidence in commercial food production. Yet the growth efficiency and by-product utilization of modern commercial pork production and processing bodes well for its environmental and social sustainability.
In some regards, artisan food has stolen the term sustainable, and that has been done in error. Commercial food production has a great sustainability story. Consumers should challenge food businesses to embrace truly sustainable practices, reduce waste and maximize resources.
Chad Carr is a meat Extension specialist at the University of Florida.
Read More from Chad Carr:
Enhanced Meat: How Consumers Drove Change
Ground Meat: Don’t Believe Everything You See on Social Media
