Whilst the Climate Summit put forward Leonardo DiCaprio as
the new dishy face of UN Messenger of Peace and delivered 480 minutes worth of
speeches to world leaders, the food industry marched on towards delivering
solutions to the treats of climate change.
What the food industry understands is that food production
is very sensitive to climate change, and one that has the potential to have
devastating impacts on global populations. As well as agriculture being
impacted by fluctuations in climate, climate change will bring the increase in
frequency of extreme weather events, such as flood and drought, increase
pressure on water resources and a reduction in agriculture yields in key food
producing regions. Not to mention rising populations. Global agriculture output
will need to rise by 2% a year to keep up with projected food demand.
Similar to what was found in the Climate Summit 2014, is it
seen here that business are understanding the risks and acting faster than
global leaders, becoming the major players in finding solutions. The food and
beverage giants like Unilver, SABMiller and Pepsico have long understood the
sustainability mantra and have been forging ahead with ambitious sustainability
programmes. Now moving beyond sustainability as a brand identity, they are
knocking on the door of Doug McMillon, Walmart’s CEO, wanting to join forces
for a large scale, almost industrial, sustainability programme. This exciting prospect
will merge the sustainability thought leaders with Walmart’s access to
suppliers, big data and agriculture programmes. The scale, potential and
importance of this move will impact us all.
What’s becoming clear is that the food industry can see the
gloomy future of climate change and water scarcity. Those businesses which do
not act will find they’re left behind. The global energy companies and world
leaders need to inherit this sense of urgency to deliver some real top-down action.
Potentially taking guidance from Leonardo DiCaprio, “you
can make history ... or be vilified by it.”
Closer to home, Plymouth University get the issues around
food production and supply chains. Although we can’t impact to the same scale as
the likes of Walmart, we can make a big impact in the South West. We are
prioritising local sourcing to support short distances from farm to fork and a
higher quality product. Over the past year we have been working to transform
our cafes to a sustainable model of catering, spending three-quarters of the total
catering spend in the South West.
Previously our fish, Individually Quick Frozen
haddock, was fished in the Pacific and packed in China, before flying over
5,000 miles to get to your plate in Drake’s Café. Now we source from the local
Plymouth and Brixton fish markets, we empower our supplier to provide fish that
is plentiful on the day and either MSC Certified or from boats part of the
Responsible Fishing Scheme. The boats are small day boats, and many are rod and
line boats. This supports the local fishing industry, removes air miles and
increases quality. Our meat is from an Exeter family butcher, Red Tractor Certified
and sourced from the South West. Our charcuterie meat is from an award winning
Bristol RSPCA Freedom Food certified supplier. Our fruit and vegetables
supplier is from Saltash. Our baker is in Plympton. Our fresh milk is organic.
Our eggs are free range. Our coffee is Fairtrade, in fact we are a Fairtrade
University. Our disposables are biodegradable. Our food is composted. Our
near-date food is donated to the Devon and Cornwall Food Association.
Dr Samantha Price, Sustainability Manager, Plymouth University
