Every year we throw away 450,000 tonnes of edible food. In 2020, every Norwegian threw away an average of 85 kilograms of food. A solution that has been talked about for several years is a separate food waste law. Finally, words have turned into action. For the very first time, the group that has been given responsibility for finding out how a food distribution act should work met today. Now several people are calling for a measure that is about price in particular: goods that are about to expire should be cheaper. – I think it is a good input that we will take with us, says the head of the committee, Petter H. Brubakk. He is the managing director of NHO Mat og Drikke. – I agree that we must ensure that people buy the food that is approaching its expiry date. What are the right measures, I look forward to seeing what the committee proposes, says Climate and Environment Minister Espen Barth Eide. Increased food prices The comparison of food prices and the wage trend says something about whether you get more, less or the same amount for your money. When the development of food prices is higher than the development of wages, it means that food has become more expensive. Both figures are averages for the specified period. Read more about sources and reservations here. How much food prices have increased in the past year, compared to wage development Food Dec 2021 – Dec 2022 Wage development Estimates for 2022 The committee has, among other things, been tasked with looking at how a food waste law can help reduce wastage. The committee chair will not say anything about what they end up recommending. – I have to be careful about starting to advance anything. We as a committee met for the first time today, we have only just started to look at the mandate we have been given, it is quite broad and comprehensive and we have had very little time, says Brubakk. – But then it is also urgent to get faster to the goal we all agree to reach in 2030. I think I will leave that discussion for today, but we will look at all conceivable means that can contribute to us reaching a goal which is agreed, and then we will take it from there, he says. We have new price technology At Coop Mega at Majorstuen in Oslo, we meet Regid Nilsen (21). He himself plans dinners to cut his own food waste. His appeal to the grocery stores is clear: – Products that are about to expire should be advertised for and be more visible, instead of just having a small section at the back of the store with items at 40 percent. Regid Nilsen believes that goods close to the expiry date can become more visible in the shops. Photo: Milana Knezevic / news And they can be priced down even more, says Nilsen. – Especially goods such as bread, vegetables and fruit. Especially for students, it would have been very easy to buy at a 60 or 70 percent discount. There are goods the shops are going to raise anyway, so it’s just as well to just lower the price and get a little money in the coffers, he says. He receives support from the Future in our hands (FIVH). – If a food item is about to expire today, it should be discounted by more than, say, 20 per cent, says manager Anja Bakken Riise. Bread is one of the goods he believes should be priced down more. Photo: Milana Knezevic / news The environmental organization has long fought for a food waste law. Now they are on the government’s committee. Among other things, they suggest that the shops should use technological solutions to achieve what they call progressive prices, or gradual price cuts. – Then you can start small and reduce the price not only the day before the expiry date, but perhaps a week before on certain items. This may mean that grocery chains have to invest in new technology and use, for example, QR codes, says Riise. She wants the committee to consider fines for chains that do not cut food waste enough. – Then it will instead pay to invest in new technology, she says. Anja Bakken Riise believes fines must be imposed if grocery chains do not cut enough food waste. Photo: Milana Knezevic / news Voluntary agreement did not save enough food So far, the work to prevent edible food ending up in the trash has been driven forward by a voluntary agreement between the food industry and the authorities. Together, they have set themselves the goal of halving food waste by 2030. But this scheme cut food waste by only 10 per cent between 2015 and 2020. It is not going fast enough, admits climate minister Espen Barth Eide (Ap). – We have set up the committee precisely to go through what can be further developed within voluntary cooperation, what can be included in a law, and how should we pick up the pace. The Minister of Agriculture, the Minister for Climate Change and the head of the committee met with news before the work started on Tuesday. Photo: Kristine Ramberg Aasen / news Cutting food waste is an important climate measure, because food production entails large emissions. When we reach the goal of halving food waste, we will simultaneously cut 1.5 million tonnes of emissions, according to Barth Eide. Committee leader Petter H. Brubakk from NHO promises clear measures, right from the producer to the consumer. From farm to table, as he says. – We have been given 11 months to make a concrete recommendation for how to achieve a very ambitious goal, which I understand the entire value chain is behind.
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