The food saving resource assisting the transition to a circular food system
Author: Charlotte Adams
Designed by Charlotte Adams
Published by Food Loop
The purpose of this document is to act as a manifesto for the work of Food Loop sharing its aims with stakeholders.
Last updated on 11th August 2023
Please do not share without permission from the owner. For more details contact team@foodloop.com
This document was designed on Gadigal land. We acknowledge the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation as the traditional owners of the land. The ecological traditions and care for Country of First Nations People characterises the roots of this initiative. Indigenous knowledge of these systems is imperative to all our past, present and futures. We pay our respects to Elders past and present.
Food Loop recognises the vital contribution of individuals in shaping a circular food system.
1 (Australian Government Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, 2023).
2 (Stop Food Waste Australia, 2021).
Food is a universal uniting language. Yet, the world’s food waste problem has never been bigger. Food waste costs the Australian economy $36.6 billion dollars in economic losses each year.1 $20 billion of this is due to the behaviours of individuals operating in the current linear system.2
In the Australian Government’s 2017 National Food Waste Strategy, they committed to the UN’s SDG 12.3 to half food waste by 2030.3 One of the primary goals of the National Food Waste Summit in 2022 was to engage consumers with the issue.4 Food Loop can help us meet both of these ambitious goals.
So many solutions to food waste already exist, but many are unaware of them. At a time when the world is rapidly running out of resources, we need change now and we need radical collaborative effort.
We have a sincere need for communication and education about food waste.3 (Australian Government, 2017). 4(Stop Food Waste Australia, 2022).
Food Loop is a food reduction policy initiative for NSW Government. To reach its full potential, Food Loop requires stakeholders support.
Food Loop provides all the necessary tools and information to empower individuals to change their food waste habits. It is the nationwide campaign and resource necessary to tackle the 34% of food waste that is generated in Australian households. 5
At Food Loop, we believe individuals have a profound power in influencing change once they have the education to guide it. When individuals own this power and take responsibility for the food waste they create, they can use their voices and wallets to influence businesses and the other parts of the food system to change.
Design an accessible resource that provides tools and information to shift behaviours away from wasting food towards a more circular food system.
Provide the tools and information for individuals to decrease their food waste and change their food waste behaviours.
Champion and support businesses that are tackling the issue of food waste in their business models.
Support and contribute to the Australian Government’s target to half food waste by 2030.6
The food system is complex, and its problems are wicked. Food Loop intervenes in the current linear food system at the “marketing” and “use” stages. These stages were chosen as they are one of the first points when the public comes into contact with the products. This intervention point is achievable, and if redesigned, it can effectively create positive change in the broader system.
The all-pervasive influence of marketing drives the consumeristic culture. Marketing gives us the illusion of 24/7 availability, cheapness, low price offerings for more and results in more waste from overbuying, quickly disposed of in the bin. Food Loop encourages individuals to use education to change their food waste habits so they purchase less and use it all.
The Food Loop system proposes part of a behavioural, communication and awareness-raising policy for the NSW Government. With the development of Food Loop, the government can progress towards its ambitious goal of halving food waste by 2030.7 Food Loop can help define the grey area of greenwashing and food labelling confusion that misleads individuals. Food Loop can spur the government to make further policies limiting the confusing marketing that encourages overconsumption.
Food Loop is an accessible, free resource that focuses on sharing educational resources and making the most of what we already have rather than selling or encouraging excessive, unnecessary purchases. Food Loop will share tangible information and tools to change food waste behaviours. This includes how to meal plan, food shop, properly store food, make the most of leftovers and compost in-edibles. Food Loop will include a nationwide campaign promoting food-saving behaviours.
Food Loop is the educational and communication policy that Australia needs to move towards a more circular food system.
We’ve set the bar high.
Meeting these ambitious goals requires effective, achievable strategies. We are transparent about our strategies for success so that our potential partners know what we are doing to ensure Food Loop is an asset to you. We value our collaborators’ feedback and ideas, so these strategies will develop over time.
1. Comprehensive user-centred plan for the resource. Using design processes to meet user expectations and needs. 2. Accessibility: designing for all user’s needs. 3. Up-to-date, relevant information: a team of designers and researchers will manage and update the resource.
4. Radical, cross-disciplinary collaboration: our team will develop and strengthen relationships with our partners. 5. Standards and requirements for the businesses that we promote. 6. Audit businesses to ensure they meet our standards before we promote their work. These relationships will be reviewed over time.
7. Develop a Food Loop certification for the businesses that pass our audit. This certification validates their work, Food Loop will promote them and in turn, they can promote Food Loop with QR codes and links digitally and in brick-and-mortar stores. This is one way we will connect individuals to businesses through our platform. 8. Develop tools to track and regulate individual food waste. With permission, this data will be used to measure the platform’s efficacy. 9. Community pages can help individuals support local food saving businesses and get involved in community events. 10. Feedback pages for stakeholders to share design flaws, ideas and potential business partners. This helps ensure we accommodate for changing user needs.
We want to be topof-mind as the best resource for food waste information. These are some key methods we will use to measure our success.
Please contact us for more details on our measures of success and ROI for those who invest in Food Loop.
• Daily + monthly active users of the platform
• Number of downloads of the app
• Number of QR code scans
• Maturity metrics indicating how the platform anticipates the needs of future users
Reach
• How, when, where, and who uses the platform.
• Conversion rate: how many people read the resource and how many actively use the tools provided (the waste tracking capabilities)
• Percentage of active users and the demographic
• Percentage of users that engage with the tools and on what basis they do this.
• Regular partner and public feedback
• Individual and business satisfaction and retention. Do they trust the resource and find it easy and worthwhile to use?
• Net Promoter Score: would users recommend the platform to others?
• What forms of the platform (e.g. website or app) are the most used.
• Environmental metrics on how the platform has changed user behaviours based on use of the tools and user feedback
Accessible, digestible content in one platform. Facilitates the cross-disciplinary collaboration required to transition to a circular food system. Strengthens relationships between the government, businesses and individuals. Supports and creates incentives for businesses that decrease food waste. Raises awareness of circular economy opportunities. Strengthens the capacity for levers to make sustainable positive change. Fosters innovation. Encourages the development of new, more sustainable markets. 8 Food Loop becomes tangible evidence of the ways in which the government is supporting businesses and people to transition to a circular food economy. Potential to positively shape Australian culture.
Requires resources and capital to set up and maintain the platform.
Reliant on the quality, relevance and accessibility of the tools and information provided and effective management by a dedicated team.
Reliant on individuals to use the resource and its tools to measure the resource’s impact.
Suitable incentives should be determined to encourage stakeholders to use and market the resource.
Reliant on strong relationships with the government and businesses to support and promote the resource.
Need to develop and maintain a strong, trusted brand identity amongst all stakeholders to be successful.
Need for ongoing investment in the res urce and its devel pment, from building it to maintenance and technological supp rt. A team of paid empl yees who; maintain the res urce; update information; develop and strengthen relati nships; stay up to date with stakeh lders’ changing needs. It must not require businesses to do a lot to be inv lved; the certificati n should be an asset, not a chore. Requires ng ing marketing and campaign investment to be t p- f-mind and maintain a str ng, trusted brand perception.
A circular food economy relies on engagement from the government, businesses, and individuals. Each of these stakeholders is valued by Food Loop as a lever for change.
The government has a vital role in the transition to a circular economy. They have the power to lead and call on collaboration with other key stakeholders in both the public and private sectors. The transition to a more circular food system requires crossdisciplinary collaboration that can be facilitated by the government towards a
more resilient, resourceful future (Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2019, p.4).
Supporting Food Loop would indicate that the government prioritises environmental, futurefocused development, which will appeal to individuals particularly with the increasing concern about the climate crisis (Arreza, 2020).
This relationship benefits businesses as being recognised by Food Loop certifies their food saving actions and gives them free promotion on Australia’s only food saving resource. This is a positive association for the businesses and can elevate their identity amongst individuals.
Food Loop is Australia’s only unified food waste resource and will be the go-to resource for accessible, digestible content for individuals. Food Loop connects individuals with businesses and shares government actions and initiatives.
Food Loop empowers individuals through food waste education.
This booklet outlines some of the foundations of the Food Loop initiative. Food Loop’s progress and success depends on collaboration and strong partnerships. Contribute to bridging the gap in communication and education about food waste by partnering with Food Loop.
Shaping
Arreza, J. (2020). Ninety per cent of Australian consumers want sustainable products. The Fifth Estate. https://thefifthestate.com. au/home-and-lifestyle/consumers/ninety-per-cent-of-australianconsumers-want-sustainable-products/
Australian Government. (2017). National Food Waste Strategy. Australian Government. [PDF]. https://www.agriculture.gov.au/ sites/default/files/documents/national-food-waste-strategy.pdf
Australian Government Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. (2023). Tackling Australia’s Food Waste. Australian Government. https://www.dcceew.gov.au/ environment/protection/waste/food-waste
Dzhartova, V. & Neves, O. (2021). The Food System and the Circular Economy. Re-Imagined Futures. https://reimagined-futures. kumu.io/the-food-system-and-the-circular-economy
Ellen MacArthur Foundation. (2019). Circular economy in Cities: An overview of urban policy levers. Ellen MacArthur Foundation. [PDF]. https://ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/policy-levers
Fight Food Waste Cooperative Research Centre. (2019). Food Waste Australian Household Attitudes and Behaviours National Benchmarking Study. Australian Government Department of Industry, Innovation and Science. [PDF]. https:// fightfoodwastecrc.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/ Summary-Report_final.pdf
Stop Food Waste Australia. (2021). Stop Food Waste Nationwide Consumer Campaign Summit Communiqué. Australian Government Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. https://www.stopfoodwaste.com.au/stop-food-wastenationwide-consumer-campaign-summit-communique/
Stop Food Waste Australia. (2022). Top 10 actions from the 2022 National Food Waste Summit. Australian Government Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. https:// www.stopfoodwaste.com.au/top-10-actions-from-the-2022national-food-waste-summit/
