The new guidance includes two practical ‘how-to’ guides and advanced tools for in-field measurement
The new guidance will help growers to better understand surplus and waste on farm (Credit: ejaugsburg from Pixabay)
UK’s Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) has issued the new Food Waste Reduction Roadmap Grower Guidance as part of its efforts to better serve the growers.
The new guidance, which was developed in collaboration with trade bodies and industry organisations, features two practical ‘how-to’ guides and advanced tools for in-field measurement.
The new resources were designed to help growers to implement the principles of Target-Measure-Act at their operations
The new resources have been designed to support growers to implement the principles of Target-Measure-Act at their operations in the food supply chain. WRAP designed the Food Waste Reduction Roadmap with IGD.
WRAP announced that it noticed around 19% of all lettuces went unharvested in 2015, with 38,000 tonnes lost across the sector that worth £7m, leading to waste ranging from 7% to 47% for production of growers.
WRAP decided to support growers to better measure and share their waste data to identify opportunities and facilitate potential to enhance productivity.
The resources were developed in collaboration with Food Waste Reduction Roadmap businesses and the Courtauld 2025 Fresh Produce Working Group.
WRAP has also consulted food and drink businesses, fresh produce members and farming representative bodies such as the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB), the British Growers Association (BGA), the Fresh Produce Consortium (FPC), the Linking Environment and Farming (LEAF) and the National Farmers Union (NFU).
The new guidance will help growers to better understand surplus and waste on farm, as well as increase productivity and improve financial savings.
In addition, WRAP offers online Food Surplus Network resource for farmers to deliver summary information and contact details for marketplaces and outlets for surplus food trading. It developed a library of business case studies to improve food waste savings.
WRAP director Peter Maddox said: “Reducing food surplus and waste is a huge opportunity for the sector.
“We estimate that around 3.6 million tonnes of food either goes to waste on farm each year, or is surplus to requirement. That’s a potential £1.2 billion loss to the sector – equivalent to seven per cent of the total food harvest.”