S2E7. There's a Story in Every Banana

The banana. Curvy, thick on the outside and softly sweet on the inside and surprisingly floats in water. 

  

With a staggering 5 million bananas consumed in Australian homes every day and a production value of 597 million, how are industry corporations addressing the issue of food waste? 

  

In this episode, Dr Joanne Freeman chats with both Melissa Smith (End Food Waste Australia) and Dr Rosie Godwin (Australian Banana Growers’ Council) to hear about what the root causes and solutions towards less waste in the banana industry are. Listen in to hear all about: 

• How people often mention that data without a purpose is meaningless, but when used to guide food waste reduction actions, it becomes incredibly valuable. 

• It's not easy to produce bananas at the snap of your fingers. Designing solutions for oversupply is tricky when people are running a business and need to meet market needs.  

• It can be challenging because, as we are aware, consumers tend to demand a perfectly ripe yellow banana without any imperfections. However, this mindset is not sustainable if we truly want to reduce food waste.  

• There needs to be an effort to educate consumers on the importance of accepting slight imperfections in order to achieve our goal. 

  

To find out more about the sector action plans mentioned in this interview please visit ⁠ https://endfoodwaste.com.au/sector-action-plans/#scroll6⁠. You can also find out about the Australian Food Service Advocacy Body at ⁠https://www.ausfab.org/.⁠  

  

A big thank you to ABGC and End Food Waste Australia for their time and support in fighting against food waste. 

  

This podcast is brought to you by Honey & Fox, where their passion is food and the people who produce it. Honey & Fox specialise in getting you in front of the right people, in the right place, at the right time. Find out more at www.honeyandfox.com.au.   

  

This podcast is supported by End Food Waste Australia who are leading impactful and research-informed food waste actions. To find out more about how they are working toward a more sustainable future please visit ⁠www.endfoodwaste.com.au⁠.