The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is urging hotels and destinations to slash the food waste from tourism, arguing food production and distribution has “outsize impacts” on climate.
Samantha Kenny, WWF food waste senior programme officer, told the Global Sustainable Destinations Summit in Majorca that food production “uses more energy and water” and destroys “more habitats” than other sectors “and then we move it all around the world”.
She said: “You can’t avoid all food waste, but you can reduce the 50% food waste from hotel buffets.”
Kenny reported a study in the US found 40% of food waste “comes from consumer-facing businesses” and a WWF pilot programme with “five large hotel brands” found “food service could be transformed”.
She said: “We’ve created a food waste toolkit for hotels at Hotelkitchen.org – with resources on food procurement, staff training and consumer engagement.”
Kenny called for “a high priority on food waste at all levels”, noting: “The roadmap can help companies, but you can’t implement it fully without destinations. We want to see these programmes rolled out at destination level.”
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Comment: Stop thinking of sustainability as a marketing tool and make operational changes