How do we create a world that doesn’t expire?
At some point, we all get labeled, even if it’s not a fit. Smart. Handsome. Boring. Dramatic. Those labels can constrict and limit our potential, and affect how we’re perceived by others. The same could be said for food, which gets stamped and stickered with expiration dates that commonly misinform the public. ReFED’s Dana Gunders once pointed out the fact that with one tick of the clock, a bottle of milk that was fine Saturday evening spoils Sunday morning. It’s a bit ridiculous, right? And it’s causing a lot of waste. From my experience working in public health and food rescue, expiration dates significantly contribute to the enormous amount of refuse in America — nearly 40% of all food ends up in a landfill — and provide an unnecessary obstacle in countering food insecurity across the nation. Food rescue counteracts that loss by reallocating consumable food past its due date, however, it must be done in a way that’s time and cost-efficient, and scalable. At Replate, we’ve found that solution through technology.
In the U.S., we run on a pretense of liability, and that sentiment feeds into a cancel culture pervading all walks of life. When it comes to food, no one wants to be responsible for spoilage, no one wants to be sued, it’s better to throw away a perfectly good can of beans than risk losing dollars, time, and public status. And since most consumers mistakenly believe date labels indicate safety, 90 percent throw away food once the expiration date arrives. But studies show almost none of those labels are related to safety — rather, they’re an assessment of quality. Food doesn’t expire on a schedule, and if we don’t look towards salvaging and repurposing it, we’re putting an expiration date on our lives and planet.
With food recovery, we’re reinventing the cycle of food, its packaging, even supply chain management to build a system that regenerates rather than expires. It’s not enough to throw a can in the recycling or toss banana peels because they’re biodegradable. Food produces harmful methane gas in the ground that leaks into the air and reduces the lifespan of our Earth. There’s a clear and proven link between waste and climate change — eight percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions are attributable to food waste. Further, there are people who could use that food, whose lives would improve if they had the chance to eat well-rounded, diverse meals.
But to create a world with limitless ends, the means must be scalable — we must build infrastructure that can be supported anywhere and technology that can facilitate the process. When COVID-19 struck the world, we witnessed many holes in our food system. Not only did restaurants and vendors struggle, but supply chains were brought to a halt with closed borders and health fears related to distribution. Grocery stores ran out of inventory. And the people who already lacked access to food faced a deeper obstacle. Those meals they didn’t have now translated to a need to seek other sources of income, some lost housing in the process. The thing is, it didn’t have to be like this, and there’s an opportunity to prevent such a collapse in the future.
Replate uses technology to fill gaps in our food system, and we’ve leveraged our program to begin scaling internationally. With an intricate digital platform, we’ve found a way to bring food to those who need it, in times of crises and loss, all from one small office in Oakland, CA. Actually, at the moment, like everyone else, we’re doing it from our living rooms. We’ve partnered with a diverse array of food donors and nonprofit organizations, we’ve hired reliable rescuers in major cities, we’ve outsourced drivers to maximize opportunities in smaller communities, and most importantly, we’ve constructed an algorithm that binds this together seamlessly. It’s also agile and adaptable, and with our unique business model, it’s a plan that can be replicated.
Food never has to expire. We can hold onto it longer, it may not be as tasty, but a lot of products are consumable and nutritious beyond best buy dates. We can also repurpose it, bring it to those in the community who may not have access at all let alone to something nutritious. We can feed it to animals, We can compost it, utilizing this resource to fertilize the land and replenish stock. Similarly, we can look towards storing and shipping it in products that are compostable or reusable rather than standard plastic and paper. We can shop locally, support farmers that rotate crops and properly manage the land, or even look towards new solutions like vertical farming to reduce transportation and shipping processes. All these solutions counter waste, improve efficiency, and fully realize the value of resources.
It’s exciting to see more companies focusing on sustainability initiatives now. Equally exciting there are plenty of tech-enabled, scalable solutions that can mitigate, repurpose and reduce food waste — food rescue is one of them. Donating surplus lunch caterings or breakroom provisions, taking note of inventory, and allocating what remains to food rescuers can make a huge impact on your carbon footprint and benefit those in the community. Consumers should follow suit too, we should all be paying attention to what we buy and how we manage refrigerator space. This will support a cycle where we reduce (or eliminate!) waste, and where there is no label or limit to life on this planet.
