In recent weeks, there have been multiple stories in the press that question the sustenance of millions of people due to the on-going pandemic and impact on the global supply chain. In UK, we have seen food shortages, a lack of HGV drivers and wider talent droughts across the food industry as a whole. However, these current incidents are indicative of the overall state of the food system in the UK.
In addition, the increase in the price of gas heating bills this winter is skyrocketing, with the average low-income family £1,750 a year worse off as a consequence which is exacerbated with the end of the furlough scheme and the devastating cut to Universal Credit. In the prevailing circumstances, it is difficult to acknowledge the difficult situation that Britons may have to choose between eating and heating this year.
Stories of supermarket shelves lying empty do not paint the full picture of food and food security in the UK. The UK still throws away tonnes of food that could be redistributed. In 2019, 4.5 million tonnes of food were not eaten and thrown away. In 2020, in the first wave of the Covid-19 lockdown protocols, it has been reported that food waste in households on average went up by a third. At the same time, there were 2.5 million people in UK reliant on food banks to put food on the table and feed their families. Manchester United footballer Marcus Rashford had to use his influence to pressure the provision of free lunches for children who would otherwise go hungry.
It is equally troubling that households, continue to throw so much food away while supermarket policy often makes food redistribution difficult. The majority of British food waste still ends up in landfill bins, left to decompose in rubbish dumps and emit megatons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere as the world teeters on the brink of climate catastrophe. Our food recycling plans currently amount to either the combustion of this food waste to generate electricity, or feed it to animals.
Statistically, over the last thirty years, it can be argued that the British diet has become nutritionally poorer. Ready meals have seen a 100% increase in sales since 1992. British children ate more nutritionally in the 1950s than at the turn of the millennium. Obesity is also becoming a leading public health issue, with over 60% of the UK adult population being classified as overweight or obese.
The average person in Britain, however, is not to blame for eating ready meals regularly. Ready meals, fast food and other convenience items are popular because they are quick, easy, and cheap. Working people today do not have the time to meal plan, or spend two hours cooking a meal when a microwavable alternative can feed their family in less time and make money stretch further. In the world of precarious employment in which we live in, where workers rights have been slashed to the extent that zero hours contracts are not only accepted but de riguer in some sectors. It is more and more common to find people working multiple jobs to make ends meet, leaving little time for themselves and their families. These are systemic problems that must be addressed when considering the nation’s food and food waste issue.
How IntelliDigest aims to help
IntelliDigest, as a brand, has a philosophy to enhance global food sustainability from farm to fork, eliminating food waste and ensuring access to nutritious food for all. We have developed an online circular food system powered by a nature inspired robot-iDigest, an automated dispenser-iSaver and the global food loss and waste tracker.
The iDigest enhances the recovery of nutrients from food waste just as your body breaks down food to provide your body with nutrients. iDigest has embedded sensors that analyses the food waste as it is placed in it, then based on the composition, enzyme dosing is optimised to break down the food waste to simple molecules that could be recovered and used for food production in soil, vertical, insect and fish farms.
Developing technologies, such as the iSaver, could revolutionise access to nutritious food produced sustainably through local food producer. The iSaver is an automated dispenser that is designed to extend the shelf life of Agrifood produce. Kitchens in cafes, restaurants, hotels, and canteens across the country and even the world will also be able to benefit from the use of iSaver to keep food both warm and free of microbes and when placed in strategic distribution points help businesses cut down on losses. It is this work that has earned IntelliDigest’s place in 300 Years of Leadership and Innovation, a book published by St James’ House, to celebrate 300 British businesses at the forefront of their industries.
The Global Food Loss and Waste tracker, is an online app available on the Google Play store that enable users to measure, track and prevent edible food waste. In addition, businesses in the food system can set a base line to help them account for emission reduction and aim for net zero emission including scope 1 and 3 emissions. For local agricultural businesses, they can sell their products grown from using nutrient recovered from iDigest to local consumers.
The local consumers benefit from the app by monitoring their nutrient consumption ensuring a balanced diet as well as access to nutrient dense food produced sustainably from local food producers using recovered nutrient from food waste. In an atomised world, it is vital that workers in the food industry connect with other working people in order to move forward in the collective interest to end food waste and improve access to nutrition for all.