According to a NSW parliamentary report, there have to be restrictions put in place to prevent major supermarkets sending farm produce to waste for minor visual defects or being slightly misshapen. The inquiry into food security found the cosmetic standards were creating significant food waste.
The committee chair, Independent MP Alex Greenwich, said it was unacceptable during a cost-of-living crisis: "We've got perfectly good food that doesn't meet some of the cosmetic standards of the big supermarket chains being forced into waste because, you know, a zucchini is bent the wrong way or a banana is the wrong color.”
It seems that Australians waste the equivalent of 312 kilograms of food per person annually, which costs the economy an estimated $36.6 billion a year. The report into food security recommended the government impose restrictions on the major retailers that would limit the amount of produce rejected and sent to waste.
Source: abc.net.au
