Designing Recommendations for Food Waste Prevention Policy and the Indonesian Food Waste Care Communication Forum: Important Outputs of the Workshop on Food Waste – Department of Community Nutrition, Faculty of Human Ecology, IPB University
Designing Recommendations for Food Waste Prevention Policy and the Indonesian Food Waste Care Communication Forum: Important Outputs of the Workshop on Food Waste – Department of Community Nutrition, Faculty of Human Ecology, IPB University
The Department of Community Nutrition, Faculty of Human Ecology, IPB University has successfully conducted a ‘food waste workshop’ themed “Formulating Policy Recommendation to Prevent Food Waste” from 4th to 5th of June, 2024, at IPB International Convention Center, Bogor. In this workshop, the participants discussed diverse strategies for preventing food waste based on recommendations from various sectors: academics, government, and private sectors. Workshop on Food Waste was conducted as a first step in formulating policy briefs on food waste in Indonesia. This event was led by Resa Ana Dina, SKM., M.Epid and supported by the International Research Institute (Lembaga Riset Internasional/LRI) on Food, Nutrition, and Health, IPB University, as well as by Intercollegiate Center of Excellence Grant Program (Program Hibah Pusat Unggulan Antar Perguruan Tinggi /PUAPT) 2024.
Dr. Sofyan Sjaf, S.Pt, M.Si as Dean of the Faculty of Human Ecology, IPB University opened this workshop. “This morning, we are discussing a very strategic and paradoxical theme. On the one hand, we are short of food; on the other hand, we are wasting food and causing many impacts such as climate change. This food problem cannot be solved from one scientific perspective alone but must be complex and comprehensive; from several scientific perspectives,” he said.
The Workshop on Food Waste was held for 2 days and 1 night with two main activities: material presentation and focus group discussion. The materials presented included the magnitude of the food waste problem, the urgency of preventing food waste, digitalization in modelling food waste systems, and policies as well as best practices for the prevention of food waste; both on a national and international scale.
This event presents 4 expert speakers in the field of food waste: Prof. Dr. Drajat Martianto, M.Si as Head of Division IV (Food Security and Nutrition), Department of Community Nutrition, IPB University; Dr. Drs. Nyoto Suwignyo, MM as Deputy II for Food and Nutrition Insecurity, National Food Agency; Tammara Soma, PhD, MCIP, RPP as a food waste expert at the School of Resource and Environmental Management, Simon Fraser University; as well as Donny Riantori Hidajat, S.H., M.Kom as Head of Technology at PT. Surplus Indonesia.
Dr. Drs. Nyoto Suwignyo, MM as Deputy II for Food and Nutritional Insecurity, National Food Agency revealed that in formulating policies, input from various parties is needed. “We are tasked to create policies related to regulating food loss and waste. After we have studied the mandate, we must meet with many experts, academics, activists, communities, and households, all of whom we must invite together to discuss the formulation of this policy. Therefore, I think this activity is well-suited; and I hope that the policy brief as the output of this activity can be completed as soon as possible since we must formulate this related policy immediately,” he said.
Meanwhile, the focus group discussion session aimed to provide a forum for higher educations, government, and the private sector (hotels, restaurants, catering and NGOs) to formulate a Plan of Action for the prevention of food waste in each sector. The results of the formulation of the Plan of Action will then become the basis for formulating a policy brief for food waste prevention in Indonesia, by Division IV (Food Security and Nutrition), Department of Community Nutrition, IPB
This workshop successfully invited and presented 50 representatives from various sectors, including 18 representatives of government agencies, both on central and regional levels; 20 representatives of higher education; and 12 representatives of the private sector.
In addition to being well implemented, the workshop was also responded positively by the participants. “This workshop is very interesting and comprehensive, starting with a presentation on good practices from various fields related to handling food waste, followed by a workshop on the preparation of PoA (Plan of Action) and active discussions from each participant. I hope the follow-up to this activity can run well, and become our step forward in handling food waste which is currently a problem in Indonesia,” said Khoirul Anwar, S.Gz., M.Si., as one of the representatives from the university.
Bogi Kusmaryanto, a representative of one of the NGOs, namely the Indonesian Catering Entrepreneurs Association, gave the following comment: “The workshop went seriously, with highly innovative speakers, and the FGD was also fun. Hence, the main objective of this workshop, designing food waste rules and mechanisms, could be achieved,” he said.
This event also serves as a forum that bridges communication between government, industry, and higher education. This was heavily implied by Ria Komalasari S., S.Pi as a representative of Bogor Regency’s Official Agency of Planning, Research, and Development (Badan Perencanaan Pembangunan Penelitian dan Pengembangan Daerah Kabupaten Bogor); and Frema Apdita, S.Gz, MIR as a representative of the Food Security Service (Dinas Ketahanan Pangan) of Bogor Regency. “Yesterday’s event was well-conducted. I am very happy with this event since both collaboration and communication forums between government, industry and higher education can be formed; initialization may be conducted in the future, and coordination of various parties related to Food Waste management can also be done to draft a PoA; which can later become a basis for drafting government policies and issuing their legal,” both commented.
The workshop ended with the establishment of a cross-sector food waste coordination forum consisting of representatives from the government, higher education, and private sectors with the hope of future and ongoing discussions on the efforts to prevent food waste in Indonesia. This workshop was officially closed by Prof. Dr. Katrin Roosita, SP. MSi as Head of the Department of Community Nutrition, Faculty of Human Ecology, IPB University.
