Purchasing Sustainability
Food processing and agronomy combined with supply are possibly the foundation stone of any economy. Food is a rudimentary human necessity. People’s health is also known to depend largely on food. A careful assessment of the food industry and agronomy will expose an intricate array of interconnected problems if we take into consideration the phenomenon of sustainability (Lang & Barling, 2012). With every other year, more and more companies concentrate their efforts on the attempts to offer sustainable food to the market. Nonetheless, in today’s food industry environment, very few companies are able to comply with the purchasing sustainability policy. On a bigger scale, this has an adverse impact on the companies because of the limitations it imposes on their practice. The current trend in the food industry hints at the fact that customers prefer buying local food that is eco-friendly and harmless. The ability of a company to adopt a policy that is based on the sustainability of food purchasing majorly helps food companies (Lawrence, Lyons, & Wallington, 2013).
As a result, the companies would step away from their isolated food preparation process. They would use every option to involve their customers into purchasing healthy and environmentally friendly food. A responsible approach to motivating customers to buy sustainable products shows that the company is making a change towards a more sustainable food organization. In order to be successful, a reasonable policy on the food industry sustainability should be fully in compliance with the overall goals and objectives of the institution (Lang & Barling, 2012). A proper approach to the sustainability of purchase in the food industry is based on social and ecological targets and is designed to find new winning tactics and to provide resources necessary to those tactics.
Waste Control Sustainability
There are three main sources of impact when we talk about the waste control sustainability – direct, upstream, and downstream. The upstream effect consists in the amount of ecological and human resources that were utilized throughout the production process and the subsequent distribution of goods procured for the company (Grunert, Hieke, & Wills, 2014). After consumption of the product, the company will have to deal with a direct impact if the customer trashes the waste. If the customers take the goods with them, the company will be influenced by the downstream impact. The goods that are made available by the company and the services it provides may be important to the environment and the contentment level of its customers (Grunert et al., 2014). There may be local reprocessing strategies and composting possibilities, but all companies that operate in the food service industry should be obliged to implement some sort of waste control strategies into their guidelines. There are a lot of available options, but one of the most often used is the development of a composting program.
If there is no adequate recycling program in the company, it should also be developed. The companies should pay attention to the use of resources and materials that are easily composted and recycle as many products as possible (Grunert et al., 2014). It would also be profitable to develop a relationship with an organization concentrated on the food donation. Finally, the main factor impacting the waste control sustainability is the involvement of the staff and the company’s customers into the process. The organizations should take into consideration the popularity and the benefits of this practice.
Energy Conservation Sustainability
Energy conservation strategies are an extrinsic element of the food industry and its sustainable progress (Garnett, 2013). Not so long ago, numerous companies joined their separate efforts in an attempt to improve the energy efficiency and waste heat salvage. This was done due to the fact that the sustainability of food processing became one of the central topics for the food industry. Innovative technologies became an alternative for conventional energy-intensive food processes. These include different thermodynamic cycles and the development of new heating methods. This would help companies to take full advantage of energy consumption strategies, production costs reduction, and improvements in the general processes inherent in the food production sustainability (Buttriss, 2012). The old sterilization and pasteurization methods are replaced with new methods that are not so resource-intensive. The companies should also develop novel ways of chilling and freezing their products (in addition to new evaporation methods).
What is really important, the majority of these strategies are already implemented in other industries, so it is only necessary to transfer them to the food industry (Garnett, 2013).If we speak about energy consumption, the food industry deals with numerous important aspects. The companies have to pay attention to energy indicators, find credible and stable energy sources, and identify ways to use energy effectively in diverse processing segments and throughout the process of production of various goods. Currently, more and more companies turn to innovative energy preservation technologies aimed at the minimization of use of energy resources. These technologies include dehydration, proper thermal processing, and freezing (Buttriss, 2012). Modern companies should pay close attention to non-conventional methods of energy conservation and implement them in practice (Garnett, 2013). The energy conservation policies concerning sustainability should be carefully revised.
Water Conservation Sustainability
In numerous cases, the issue of energy conservation outshines the problem of water conservation, but the latter should never be overlooked. Mostly, this should be done because water use and energy are unswervingly related to each other. Practices that are easy to implement, but effective at the same time, are the basis of the sustainability and successful water conservation. Adequate sustainability and conservation can be achieved through the integration of the water conservation regulation into the policy of the company (Baldwin, 2011). The best thing about the water conservation is that it requires little effort from the management and staff in order to be efficaciously implemented in practice. There are innumerable ways to save water in any working environment (Baldwin, 2011). For instance, employees could use refrigerators to unfreeze meats instead of keeping it under running water. If the use of running water is inevitable, it should be kept to a reasonable minimum. The water taps (featuring an effective aerator) do not have to be completely on. The lids should not be kept off when dealing with boiling water throughout the slow periods (Baldwin, 2011). It would also be reasonable to use dry cleaning methods (a sweeper and a mop) instead of splashing water to clean around or utilize a water brush as an alternative to a hose. Similarly, it is not recommended to exploit running water to thaw the ice. The important point is to get a water inspection from a respectable organization. The water should be served to guests only on request (Baldwin, 2011).
References
Baldwin, C. (2011). Sustainability in the food industry. Ames, IA: Wiley-Blackwell/IFT Press.
Buttriss, J. L. (2012). Food reformulation: The challenges to the food industry. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, 72(01), 61-69. Web.
Garnett, T. (2013). Food sustainability: Problems, perspectives and solutions. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, 72(01), 29-39. Web.
Grunert, K. G., Hieke, S., & Wills, J. (2014). Sustainability labels on food products: Consumer motivation, understanding and use. Food Policy, 44(2), 177-189. Web.
Lang, T., & Barling, D. (2012). Nutrition and sustainability: An emerging food policy discourse. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, 72(01), 1-12. Web.
Lawrence, G., Lyons, K., & Wallington, T. (2013). Food security, nutrition and sustainability. Sterling, VA: Earthscan.