Reducing waste, an ethical, economic and environmental imperative

May 15 2023 (18:15 WEST)

It is tempting to start this reflection by analyzing what has happened so that Spanish society has traveled in such a short time the distance between the sobriety produced by the scarcity that was imposed in the post-war period and the following decades, and the current consumerist and wasteful model of use and throw away. Or even buy and throw away.

It is easy to locate among our childhood memories a mother who asks you not to let the water run while you brush your teeth, a father who shakes the electricity bill so you don't forget to turn off the light when leaving the room, or a grandmother with the eternal song: "you have to finish everything on the plate; nothing is thrown away in this house".

Finding out how and why social habits turned around in just a few years is undoubtedly an interesting challenge; but let's leave that investigation to the professionals of sociology and economics and talk about how to recover sanity to avoid wasting billions of kilos and liters of food annually.

Because reducing the surplus and waste of food is an ethical, economic and environmental imperative that we must face immediately. And the Law on the Prevention of Losses and Food Waste, the first regulation on this matter promulgated in Spain, responds to this social demand, public responsibility and collective solidarity.

The motivation of the law is in line with the main lines of the Government, which promote social justice, environmental protection and economic growth. With the approval of this new regulation, the Government takes a further step in its commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals included in the UN's 2030 Agenda. Specifically, objective 12.3 establishes the aspiration to "halve the world's per capita food waste at the retail and consumer levels and reduce food losses in production and supply chains, including post-harvest losses".

Analyses indicate that food waste is a consequence of an inefficient functioning of food systems. Its causes are related to errors in the planning and scheduling of harvesting, the use of inadequate production and handling practices, deficiencies in storage conditions, poor retail techniques and practices of service providers, and inappropriate consumer behavior.

We must do it. Food waste harms society as a whole because it increases access to basic necessities, wastes scarce natural resources used in production and the work of farmers and ranchers, increases waste and environmental impact, and hinders the efficiency of the productive sector and its competitiveness.


 

Ariagona González, National Deputy and Minister of Environment, Heritage, Industry and Energy of the Cabildo de Lanzarote

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