WE need to stop wasting food right now.
According to wwf.co.za, about 90% of rubbish dumped in Mzansi landfills is food that rots and releases carbon dioxide and methane greenhouse gases.
There is increasing pressure on establishments to repurpose food. KFC launched Harvest, an initiative to curb the waste of cooked chicken at almost 200 outlets restaurants with partners, Food Forward South Africa, a new project focused on cutting food loss.
Food Forward aims to reduce the amount of dumped food to fight climate change.
Thabisa Mkhwanazi, public affairs director at KFC Africa, said: “In 2015, we altered our processes to accommodate the surplus food programme while maintaining our restaurants high levels of internal food safety procedures.
“We are proud of how so many in the organisation embraced our plan to reduce food waste.”
With Food Forward, participating KFC restaurants distribute frozen surplus chicken to Food Forward who then divide it among specifically selected non-profit beneficiaries.
The frozen surplus chicken is distributed using KFC’s transport partner Digistics to Food Forward depots according to a weekly schedule.
The beneficiaries collect the food and use it to prepare nutritious meals for people in need.
Wayne Du Plessis from Food Forward said they were excited about their growing partnership with KFC through the fried chick fast food brand’s Harvest programme.
“This partnership allows us to boost access to nutritious food to those who need it. The fried chicken chain is a long-standing and valued partner of Food Forward and has made it their priority to address food insecurity across all South Africa.”
