Building back better by ensuring food safety and less food waste in the hospitality sector
September 2020
How do we manage food waste in the time of COVID-19?
World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Philippines' The Sustainable Diner Project was tapped by the Transforming Tourism Value Chains Project of Philippine Center for Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development, Inc (PCEPSDI) to hold an online food safety and food waste management training for hospitality properties in Metro Manila, Iloilo, Palawan, and Boracay. The training was intended to support the implementation of sustainable food value chains, in accordance with the Roadmap for Low-Carbon and Resource-Efficient Tourism in the Philippines, which was developed by the Tourism Value Chains project. A total of 52 participants were trained during the two sessions, conducted via Zoom, on August 24-25 and August 27-28, 2020.
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to raise concerns around health and hygiene, food safety has all the more become a primary consideration for consumers. As such, the first day of each session provided an introductory training to ensure food safety in preparing, cooking, serving, and delivering meals in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and food-borne illnesses.
The second day featured COVID-19 best practices for food service establishments adapting to present needs, including the Global Tourism Plastics Initiative’s recommended strategy for safely reducing single-use plastics during COVID-19 recovery. Once proper safety protocols were established, the attendees were trained in food waste management, including how to prevent, measure and separate, analyze, and divert food waste away from the landfills. Throughout both sessions, they also participated in interactive virtual activities and exchanged personal experiences. “We need to prioritize health without disregarding other problems, which also adversely affect our future,” said Alexa Jeanne Lasch, The Sustainable Diner project’s Sustainable Business Specialist.
Effective food safety and waste management systems can help promote food security and combat climate change. Preventing food waste, donating safe and edible food to the hungry, and diverting unavoidable food waste away from landfills (to compost bins, for example) are some win-win solutions that the hospitality industry can implement in order to achieve the triple bottom line--profit, people, and planet.
After one of the breakout sessions, Chef Johnny Rodriguez of Ascott Hotel BGC even shared his group’s discussion about the various ways COVID-19 has both inspired and enabled them to focus on “building back better.”
The Food Safety and Food Waste Management introductory training module was shared as reference materials to all participants. This was designed and developed by The Sustainable Diner Project team to support the online training. It contains food safety and food waste management recommendations from ServSafe and WWF-US Food Waste Management toolkit.
After the training sessions, WWF and PCEPSDI shared the food safety and food waste management module to help participants bring these lessons to their own teams and guide them in implementing these protocols in their respective properties. Visit our website for more sustainable dining tips and watch out for our next events on the WWF-Philippines Facebook page.
The Sustainable Diner project, under Sustainable Consumption and Production, is part of the International Climate Initiative (IKI). The Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, and Nuclear Safety (BMU) supports this initiative on the basis of a decision adopted by the German Bundestag.
The Sustainable Diner Project Team:
Melody Melo-Rijk, Jonna Ellaine Jordan, Lorayne Therese Roque, Alexa Jeanne Lasch, Iris Joy Abrigo, Liezl Stuart del Rosario, Kristan Gabriel Villalon, Carla Pena Singson
Design by Jonna Jordan, Gabriel Villalon, Pauline Abello
For more information, please contact:
Jonna Ellaine Jordan
Integrated Marketing Communication Specialist
jjordan@wwf.org.ph
Lorayne Therese Roque
Sustainable Consumer Specialist
lroque@wwf.org.ph
Alexa Jeanne Lasch
Sustainable Business Specialist
jlasch@wwf.org.ph
Iris Joy Abrigo
Sustainable Business Officer
iabrigo@wwf.org.ph
