On January 5th, we interviewed the environment section of Konan City Hall about food loss by e-mail.
Some questions were created with reference to food loss-related information posted on the city's website.
We asked about the current situation of food loss in Konan City.
Q1. Q1. About how many tons of food loss are produced annually in Konan City?
What is the proportion of business-related food loss and home-related food loss?
A. Konan City does not collect data, so it is unknown.
Q2. Are there any negative effects from food loss in Konan City?
Who is affectd, and how?
A. We have not collected data or investigated food loss,
so we do not know specifically about the negative effects.
However, since discarded food is incinerated, it is considered to be a burden on the environment,
and as a city, there is an impact of an increase in the cost of incinerating combustible waste.
We asked about measures against food loss in Konan City.
Q3.What was the purpose of the "Food loss reduction enlightenment leaflet"?
In addition, in what kind of place in the city, for whom, is it put up?
A. We created it with the idea that by starting with what you can do at home,
you can raise awareness of food loss reduction.
The flyers are posted mainly at public facilities in the city to raise public awareness among citizens.
"Food loss reduction enlightenment leaflet" by Konan city
Q4. What is "Food Loss Reduction Month" in October?
Also, is there anything you are doing to prevent food loss during that period?
A. The "Food Loss Reduction Promotion Act" came into force in October 2019,
and October was designated as "Food Loss Reduction Month" and October 30 as "Food Loss Reduction Day".
Every year, the city holds a food drive around the last week of October.
Q5. What was the purpose of this year's "food drive", where was it, and what was it like?
Also, if you have any voices from those who participated, please let me know.
A.On the day of food loss reduction, we held a food drive at the lobby
in front of the south entrance on the 1st floor of the city hall and
the Environmental Business Center to collect food donations.
One of the comments from the participants was,
"It would be nice if there was a place where people could donate at all times."
* It is difficult to hold the event on a regular basis due to problems such as storage space and transportation.
Q6. What is the purpose and content of the 2022 lecture on the theme of
"Tips for reducing food loss at home"?
A. This lecture is held every year jointly by Aichi Konan Junior College and the city.
In 2022, the theme "Tips for reducing food loss at home" was selected,
which is common to the nutrition and childcare courses at Aichi Konan Junior College.
A food loss reduction advisor will be invited to give a lecture on topics such as refrigerator storage,
food preservation, and rolling stock to convey ideas for eating up food.
Q7. Are there any ordinances or rules enacted in Konan City to reduce food loss?
A. The "Konan City Waste Reduction and Proper Disposal Ordinance"
stipulates that businesses and citizens must strive to reduce the amount of
waste by suppressing the generation of waste. However, there are no ordinances
or rules directly related to food loss reduction.
Q8.Are there any other measures other than those mentioned above to reduce food loss?
A. The city holds food drives three times a year (August, October, and February) to reduce food loss.
In addition, as a plan for the next fiscal year,
we are considering introducing a food sharing service aimed at reducing business-related food waste.
Q9. As Konan City, what is your overall view of the food loss situation
in the city and the measures being taken?
How will you deal with this issue in the future?
Also, if you have a message for Gangnam citizens about the issue of food loss, please let us know.
A.Regarding food loss, we understand that the city is
not yet aware of the total amount and that efforts are still lagging behind.
With the awareness that "food loss is a waste" and
"food discarded due to food loss is not used and will be incinerated",
each citizen should first take measures that can be easily done at home.
Businesses should try to reduce food waste as much as possible.
We would like to raise awareness so that people can take action.
We asked about the current situation and countermeasures for
food loss in Konan City, where the member's high school is located.
Even though we go to school every day,
we were surprised that there were many things we didn't know,
such as food drives and lectures on food loss.
In the future, I would like to pay attention to the measures being taken in the community and actively participate in events such as food drives.
Also, after the interview the staff from Konan city told us,
"There are still some parts that the city has not grasped, such as specific numbers,
and this question made us think again, and we learned a lot.”
We were very satisfied that the interview was a good opportunity not only for us
but also for the people at Konan City Hall to think about food loss. .