Today’s episode tackles a giant of a problem for the food industry and for society as a whole: sustainability. We speak to special guest Andy Wright, head of sustainability at Greencore, about the big picture for sustainability in the food industry and where we need to do better.
Andy kicks off the episode by talking about the complex issues of indicating carbon footprints on food packaging, a hot-button issue for the industry right now. He gives advice on what food start-ups can do to increase their sustainability and shares a shocking statistic about how polluting the food industry in the UK is compared to other major industries. He also outlines the solutions that he would like to see and talks about what individuals in the food industry can do to put sustainability at the heart of their company.
This is a very interesting episode of the Oh For Food’s Sake Podcast that goes into the nuances of food sustainability. If you learnt something or started to think about food sustainability in a new way, please subscribe to the podcast and share it with your industry contacts.
Timestamps
[0:48] Today, we’ve got a special guest!
[3:00] Andy introduces himself and talks about his route into working in sustainability and the food industry
[5:38] What sustainability used to look like in the food industry and the picture today
[8:42] Andy’s expert opinion on carbon footprint information on food packaging
[11:10] “How accurate do you want your data?”: The complex issues involved in calculating the carbon footprint of food items
[14:26] Andy’s sustainability advice for food start-ups
[16:10] In sustainability, there are no easy answers
[17:35] Brand standards and sustainability labelling
[19:50] How does the food industry in the UK compare to other industries on sustainability issues?
[23:15] The National Food Strategy
[25:05] The top 3 solutions that Andy would implement to make the food industry more sustainable
[27:22] Logic and magic: How do you get different teams of food manufacturers to collaborate on sustainability?
[29:35] We know the questions to ask but it’s not easy to find the answers
[30:50] Andy’s message to people who work in the food industry
[32:40] Where to go to connect with Andy
Links and Resources
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See you next time!