Waste not, want not
New York City is well-recognized for its authentic and diverse cuisines from all around the world. Yet through our daily grind, as we seek (and need) to feel satiated, many times we forget to take a second to pause to think about the origin of our food or even bother to read the nutritional label.
Food-borne illnesses have nearly doubled recently across the US, even with recent developments attempting to solve traceability challenges with blockchain and Internet of Things (IoT) sensors. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) estimated that 80% of the seafood[1]we eat is imported from countries which have illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing practices.
The sustainably-raised halibut you are eating may actually be an endangered grouper, or may have been caught by a fisherman in Thailand who is a victim to modern slavery.[2] So even if we read the label and are fully-educated on where our food hailed from, we cannot be too sure.
Local markets and urban farming have sprouted in New York City to provide an abundance of locally grown food and provide an opportunity for communities to come together and establish a social network and create an economic impact.
Red Hook Community Farms is one to name, including attempts to utilize our precious rooftop space with greenhouses at Gotham Greens. Some even have a social justice component, such as Teens for Food Justice, which brings scalable, hydroponic farms to underserved public schools across the city.
NYC startups are also using technology to disrupt the food industry, such as Brooklyn-based HowGood which is sustainable food rating database that aims to guide consumers in choosing the right brands.
Food waste, which accounts for up to 1/3 of the 4 million tons of waste New York City sends to landfill every year, has been attempted to be reduced with through composting. Landfills produce methane, a greenhouse gas that is 84x as potent as carbon dioxide.
Mayor Bill de Blasio’s “Zero Waste”[3] initiative aims to contribute zero waste to landfills by 2030, yet we don’t see too many businesses contributing to these efforts just yet. Red Hook on the other hand, is part a larger NYC Compost Project which converts 150+ tons of organic matter from waste to soil rich in nutrients and microbial life.
Since ‘agribusiness’ was coined in 1957 and modern food production began, smaller US agricultural companies, particularly local farmers, have been driven out or have not been making the same return on investment. Just last year, as Walmart opened up its own bottling plant in the Midwest, it led to Dean Foods, a major Walmart Supplier, to terminate its contracts with more than 100 dairy farmers across eight states. These efforts to create a more efficient supply chain for local customers was at the expense of small-town suppliers.
Another example comes from PepsiCo, headquartered in Harrison, NY, which has set goals correlated to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), such as their Sustainable Farming Program (SFP) where they work with participating farmers to promote their well-being and those of their surrounding communities. 79% of the crops they sourced directly were grown by farmers engaged through SFP.
These actions all translate into the company’s bottom line with the possibility of influencing customer loyalty, strengthening brand reputation, and having more resilient supply and distribution chains. One daily consumer food choice can make a bigger difference than we think. We (and our tummies) also have the power to choose our suppliers.
[1]https://www.fishwatch.gov/sustainable-seafood/the-global-picture
[2]https://www.scmr.com/article/can_consumer_preferences_drive_traceability_in_seafood_supply_chains
[3] https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/dsny/site/our-work/zero-waste
