Aditya Arora
United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 12.3[1] aims to halve global food waste and reduce food losses along the supply chain by 2030. To track progress, the Food Waste Index (FWI)[2] provides a framework for measuring food waste across various supply chain stages—including agriculture, manufacturing, distribution, etc., and highlights food redistribution as a critical component.
But to effectively monitor progress against SDG 12.3, redistribution data must be integrated into national and international reporting systems. Food banks, as facilitators of food redistribution, are in a prime position to lead this effort.
A recent Global Foodbanking Network (GFN) white paper[3] highlights the importance of a strong monitoring and reporting infrastructure around food redistribution, so that these activities can be attributed towards nationally determined contributions targets for the food bank's operational country.
Despite the momentum around food redistribution, measurement and reporting are challenging:
Without data, governments struggle to integrate food redistribution data into national climate reporting, and food businesses miss opportunities to quantify and report on their contributions toward sustainability goals.
Food banks coordinate redistribution activities between food donors and community organisations, managing a complex flow of food across regions. Unlike other entities in the food supply chain, food banks:
For all these reasons food banks are in a unique position to standardise the model for collecting and reporting on food redistribution data, ensuring that food redistribution metrics are not just collected but also integrated into national and international sustainability efforts.
Recognising this need, FoodCloud has developed a data infrastructure to capture food redistribution activity - our solution brings together:
This infrastructure allows us to accurately track:
This reporting solution currently supports impact reporting for FoodCloud’s food business partners in Ireland, and also provides operational insights to support internal teams in optimising the flow of food through our physical or virtual redistribution infrastructure.
We are working in close partnership with our industry partners and funders, to deliver a reporting framework designed for wider implementation, with alignment to EU and global standards to ensure broader applicability and potential adoption at a European level.
We hope this approach will provide several key benefits for various stakeholder types:
I’m excited to be part of the @FoodCloud @FEBA collaboration, working with @Anthesis, to co-develop a unified reporting framework that is robust and scalable, and aligned with the needs of food banks, food businesses, and policymakers. We have a unique opportunity to shape a data model that truly reflects the impact of food redistribution.
[1] UN Sustainable Development Goals https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal12
[2] UNEP Food Waste Index https://www.unep.org/resources/report/unep-food-waste-index-report-2021
[3] GFN Whitepaper https://www.foodbanking.org/resources/carbon-markets-and-financing-mechanisms-for-food-banking-organizations/
[4] EPA Food Waste Hierarchy https://www.epa.gov/sustainable-management-food/food-recovery-hierarchy