Anti-food waste requires more sophisticated design

A few days ago, the Nanjing market supervision department punished a bakery
.

The reason is that law enforcement officers found a large amount of discarded bread in the kitchen waste in their workshop, many of which were just baked

These breads were discarded because they were not well presented, they were bigger or smaller, flat or ugly
.

Law enforcement officials believe that this behavior is illegal according to the "Law of the People's Republic of China on Anti-Food Waste" that came into effect on April 29, and issued a "Notice of Ordering Corrections" to the merchants and interviewed them

In daily life, it is common practice to deal with food near the expiration date at a discount
.

But businesses that pursue freshness or appearance have different ideas

The "small truth" of the business may make sense, but it does not mean that the "big truth" of the society can also make sense
.

If all businesses do this, then the phenomenon of food waste will become more and more intensified under the cloak of "meeting consumer needs", and the wealth of the entire society will be eroded and consumed

Consumers' demand for high quality does not necessarily lead to high waste
.

If you want to improve the quality, you can improve the technical level in the production process, make more shaped "qualified products", and produce less "inferior products" of crooked melons and cracked dates.

The person in charge of the market supervision department that conducted the investigation this time gave the bakery this advice: You can find some ways, such as social donations, and provide them to units and individuals in need on the premise of ensuring food safety.
This is useful for preventing waste and building corporate image.
All are beneficial
.

For many businesses, the reason why they choose to discard instead of donate is because it requires costs: including information costs for finding and identifying recipients, labor and transportation costs, and intangible costs such as time and energy invested
.

In addition, in the event that the food expires or there are other differences in transit, how to define the responsibility?

Take a look at the rocks of other mountains
.

In 2016, France passed a draft anti-waste food law, prohibiting supermarkets from throwing away food and requiring food distributors to donate excess food to charities

First of all, the business has a tax deduction in return
.

The government gives merchants tax incentives, and the amount of tax relief is equivalent to 60% of the value of French food stocks

Secondly, supermarkets do not directly face the recipients, but hand over the temporary food to “middleman” institutions such as food banks and charity organizations, and then these institutions will distribute them to those in need
.

Finally, food recycling companies check for omissions
.

Companies charge service fees to help find donors and match with food aid organizations, while optimizing logistics resources, collecting and redistributing even a small amount of fresh and cooked food
.
In this way, even small shops in remote areas where it is difficult to reach charity organizations can get help in time
.

The three are added together to reduce the donation costs of the main donors, namely supermarkets and stores, and improve the efficiency of food circulation
.
Similar practices are currently being tried in some areas in China.
For example, the "Shared Granary" initiated by Jinhua in Zhejiang provides incentives such as market stall fee reduction and exemption and credit enhancement for merchants participating in public welfare activities.
Residents can also put surplus food in the shared warehouse For those in need
.

In the final analysis, not throwing away bread is not only a matter of frugality, but also a test of whether the whole society can maximize the ability of food resources through system construction
.
After the anti-food waste law is promulgated, it is still necessary to build a complete anti-waste chain, through system design, open up upstream and downstream supply and demand, do a good job in cost allocation, and use market methods to solve problems more
.