Counting the cost of food waste: ‘People don't have enough to eat not due to lack of production, but lack of access'

Irish Times

2 days ago

In
Ireland
, each person throws out about 44kg of food in a year, which is, roughly speaking, a large supermarket trolley full of food. But, if you add in all the food that is wasted in
shops
, restaurants, catering companies,
food processing
plants and farms, that figure amounts to the equivalent of about 167kg per individual.
The economic and environmental costs of such waste are often discussed. Food waste costs each household in the State around €700 annually and food loss and food waste account for 8-10 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions.
But the ethical dimension to wasting food is something that food banks also focus on. 'People don't have enough food to eat not because of lack of production but due to lack of access to food,' said Esteban Arriaga, chief executive of the European Food Banks Federation on a recent visit to Dublin.
FoodCloud, an Irish food redistribution charity, reckons it shares out just over 1 per cent of the wasted food fit for human consumption that could be available for donation.
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'FoodCloud distributed about 3,900 tonnes of food last year, and if we want to reach about 5 per cent reduction in food waste through redistribution we will have to do seven times more than we currently do,' said Iseult Ward, co-founder of FoodCloud.
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AIB-FoodCloud partnership has prevented 15,000 tonnes of food from going to waste
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Surplus food donated by FoodCloud to Citywise Education, a charity in Tallaght, is used to promote healthy eating through its Ready Steady Cook challenges for young people. FoodCloud donations to Citywise also supply its cafe, with any extras left out for anybody to take.
'We are able to run an informal, discreet food bank for our members with anything we don't use ourselves. It's quite elaborate really – anything we won't use, we leave on a table in the cafe and by the next day, it's gone,' says Daire Hennessy, chief executive of Citywise, which provides after-school and out-of-school support for hundreds of young people.
At their 2025 convention in Dublin, the federation of European food bank operators teased out measures to stimulate more food donation. These include the introduction of a so-called good-Samaritan law, which would introduce a special waiver for businesses making good-faith food donations to charity. With such a law, companies would not be liable if someone later became ill as a result of eating the food.
Aoibheann O'Brien and Iseult Ward of Irish non-profit food-distribution social enterprise FoodCloud. Photograph: Matthew Thompson
'This will reassure potential donors and redistribution organisations, increasing food donations and reducing legal concerns that prevent participation in food recovery efforts,' said a recent report on food waste and donation in the EU by the Food Law and Policy Clinic at Harvard Law School.
Anecdotal evidence suggests some retailers and food distributors hold back products perfectly suitable for donation for fear of reputational damage in the unlikely event someone gets sick from a batch of donated food. Still, the
recent outbreak of listeriosis
relating to ready meals illustrates the risks associated with contaminated food.
Food waste costs the average Irish household about €60 per month, equating to an annual national cost of €1.29 billion
—
Harvard Law School study
'This is a fear that lots of food businesses have that we think will ultimately only be overcome if Ireland introduces a good-Samaritan law,' said Angela Ruttledge, head of policy at FoodCloud.
Ruttledge was keen to point out that food safety protocols are followed for all food given to charities via FoodCloud hubs or its
Foodiverse
app, which links donors with recipients directly.
Earlier this year, a Harvard Law School study examined Irish food policies, government grants and incentives, and food-waste strategies to see how food donation could be increased in the State.
That paper noted how best-before and use-by date labels on food confuse people about what is safe and unsafe to eat and contributes to food waste.
'Most food waste occurred within three sectors: manufacturing and processing (31 per cent), households (29 per cent), and restaurants and food service (21 per cent),' the paper stated.
Daire Hennessy: 'Anything we won't use, we leave on a table in the cafe and by the next day, it's gone.' Photograph: Bryan O'Brien
'Food waste costs the average Irish household about €60 per month, equating to an annual national cost of €1.29 billion.'
Improving the policy landscape for food donation will support efforts for a more responsible food system, the paper added.
'EU regulations require foods to have either a safety-based (use by) date mark or a quality-based (best before) date mark. Food can be donated after its best-before date but not after its use-by date mark,' said Ruttledge.
The policymakers behind Ireland's National Food Waste Prevention Roadmap 2023- 2025, which sets out priority actions to prevent waste, are currently considering the impact of introducing a good-Samaritan act.
The Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment – which updates the roadmap – acknowledged that there needs to be more consumer awareness about the difference between best-before and use-by dates on food. A ban on the destruction of food on its best-before date is also under consideration.
The Harvard paper also suggested tax credits to allay the costs of transporting food for donation, and a VAT exemption on food that is donated.
In countries, such as France, financial penalties and legal obligations have reduced food waste significantly.
'In France 10 per cent of food waste is donated from primary production, manufacturing and retailers. Businesses risk fines or consumer mistrust if they don't donate in France,' said Chris Hill, operations director with FoodCloud.
The mandatory donation of surplus food is another way to force retailers and processors to stop wasting food that is fit for human consumption.
'If we had mandatory donation of food here, we'd first have to respect the food-waste hierarchy to help businesses valorise food surpluses,' Ruttledge said.
This means encouraging more food processors and retailers to sell surplus food at a reduced price first. And then to donate any food fit for human consumption that isn't sold. Food unfit for human consumption should be sent for animal feed and anything that is left sent for anaerobic digestion.
However, preventing food waste in the first place should, of course, be the top priority of food producers, processors, distributors and retailers.
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How an Irish 'virtual food bank' is redistributing surplus food sustainably in Europe
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Positive Carbon, an Irish start-up company, has developed AI-powered sensors to track and ultimately eliminate food waste in hotels and restaurants. Its automated system allows kitchen staff, operations and management teams to see what is being wasted and make changes to purchasing, preparation and production practices.
Revisions to the
EU Waste Framework Directive
, which are expected to be passed this autumn, will make it mandatory for food processors and manufacturers to reduce waste by 10 per cent by 2030.
Householders, retailers, restaurants and cafes will have to reduce their food waste by 30 per cent by 2030. To meet these targets, much greater efforts to reduce food waste right across the food chain will need to be made.