by Roger Gordon
19 days.
That’s how long it will take food companies to waste as
much food as they donate this year.
In all, they will throw away 34 million tons of good food – including enough fresh produce to feed 50 million elementary school students every day of the year. But don’t blame them, blame us.
Unlike consumer food waste,
which is a behavioral issue, commercial food waste comes down to logistics:
Food is expensive to move. If it can’t be sold, it can’t be transported far.
Supermarkets reject thousands
of deliveries of wholesome but cosmetically imperfect food every day because
they know it won’t sell. Truckers who get stuck with them don’t have time to
search for food banks – and food banks, with their forklifts and 18-wheelers,
are not well equipped to go out and get them. That task is better left to small
food pantries and “food rescue” groups that can take the food right to where it
is needed. But they can be hard to work with, especially for national
retailers.
Technology often offers solutions to logistics problems
like these. It allows Zipcar to satisfy the short-term private transport needs
of many people using relatively few cars and it lets Uber take the guesswork
out of taking a taxi. So what would a technological solution to food waste look
like? Actually, we know the answer because it is already here – in pieces.
Yelp matches diners with
restaurants. OpenTable helps restaurants manage reservations. Foursquare alerts
shoppers to nearby last-minute deals. Google Maps helps get them there.
If we can use technology to
get people to food, we can use it to get food to people.
For the past year, a small team
of food, transportation and technology experts has been developing a system
called Food Cowboy that integrates technologies similar to those mentioned
above to help truckers find food banks, make it easier for supermarkets to
coordinate with charities, alert rescuers about available donations, and help
them plan efficient pick-up and delivery routes.
Food Cowboy can also be used to rescue food from dining
halls, schedule pick-ups from catered events, and route spoiled food to
composters instead of to landfills. The system will have built-in quality
control features and can even keep track of the miles truckers and volunteers
drive (or bike) and offer them rewards points. Participants at this spring’s
Food Waste Solutions Summit at Stanford will get to try out the system and
offer their own ideas.
There is no denying that we
are wasteful. But we are also caring and resourceful. So let’s get“Stop Wasting
Food” crossed off our lists this year. After all, we have all the tools we need
right in our pockets.
______________
Roger Gordon founded Food
Cowboy in 2012 with his brother, Richard, who owns a small trucking company
that specializes in transporting fresh produce. The system is being designed by
Northern California-based Claresco Corporation. Roger can be reached at (202)
677-5601 or roger[at]foodcowboy.com.
If you’re interested in
becoming a food, logistics or technology pardner, drop us a line.
