Hotel chains act to cut food waste
SOME of the world’s largest hotel chains are taking part in an initiative aimed at cutting food waste — including rethinking menus to prevent food from ending up in the bin.
About a dozen hotels across the US run by groups including Hilton, Hyatt and Marriott International will take part in a 12-week pilot programme to cut food waste in hospitality, according to World Wildlife Fund.
“Imagine every hotel breakfast buffet or conference luncheon eliminating food waste,” said Pete Pearson, the fund’s director of food waste.
About a third of food produced around the world is never eaten because it is spoilt after harvest and during transportation, or thrown away by shops and consumers.
Yet almost 800 million people worldwide go to bed hungry every night, according to UN figures.
In the US, about 66 million tons of food was wasted by consumers and the retail sector in 2010 at a loss of almost $162-billion, according to estimates by the US Department of Agriculture.
Pearson said some of the hotel chefs would work to make sure menus for banquets and large events could be quickly adjusted if necessary, and part of the excess food reused for other meals. “No chef likes wasting food,” he said. Throwing out food wasted the water, energy and fuel needed to grow, store and transport it, campaigners said, while discarded food ended up in landfills where it rotted, releasing harmful greenhouse gases.
Launched with support from the American Hotel & Lodging Association and the Rockefeller Foundation, the initiative will also focus on training hotel staff and raising customers’ awareness.
“We’ve already seen that hotel guests are more than willing to conserve water and energy, simply by placing a card on their pillows or hanging their towels,” said Devon Klatell, associate director at the Rockefeller Foundation.
“Our hunch is that they’ll also take action to be part of the fight to cut food waste.”
Reducing food waste is a good investment for companies, which can save an average of $14 (about R175) for every dollar spent on it, a recent study showed. —