[DRAFT] Combating Food Waste

[Kenmoria]

Combating Food Waste
Category: Social Justice | Strength: Significant

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The World Assembly,

Noting that food waste may be caused by a variety of factors,

Further acknowledging that retailers and wholesalers may refuse to purchase fruit and vegetables if they are considered aesthetically unpleasing, regardless of their actual quality or nutritional value,

Worried for the many negative effects of the aforementioned food wastage on member states and their populations, including:

1. harming the environment, due to the production of the greenhouse gas methane, the wastage of the fresh water that was used to create discarded products and the attraction of pestilence and vermin to rotting food,
2. causing a fall in the monetary compensation given to farmers and other base providers of food products by businesses, if the company suffers from smaller margins due to food wastage
3. robbing poorer citizens of member nations of the possibility to eat the perfectly edible food, safe for sapient consumption, that is thrown away unnecessarily,
4. squandering the energy used to store and distribute the discarded food, thus increasing power demand unnecessarily, and
5. wasting the labour that was used to create said food products, which could otherwise have been allocated towards goods and services that would have ultimately been used for the betterment of member nations,

Concerned over the quantities of food that may unintentionally expire due to improper or incorrect stock rotation, especially in cases where business are not informed of common best practice, and

Regretting that action has not been taken by this august assembly to reduce unnecessary food wastage, and thus lend assistance to both the environments and citizens of member nations who are hurt by the discarding of edible food,

Hereby,

1. Strongly encourages member nations to create local initiatives that seek to prevent the overproduction and disposal of viable and edible food, including but not limited to food banks and charities;

2. Commands member nations to inform their citizens and local businesses about how to properly save and store leftovers for future consumption;

3. Obliges food producers and transporters with minimising the amount of food that, having been produced or brought, is thrown away without a compelling health or safety purpose, as far as is reasonably possible;

1. Encourages member states to support these businesses via subsidies or other assistance if reducing food waste poses serious financial difficulties;

4. Mandates member nations to repurpose a reasonable amount of food surpluses into appropriate environmentally, socially or economically viable programs, such as: diverting food scraps to animal feed, composting inedible food to create nutrient-rich soil, or using waste oils from food for fuel conversion in order to recover lost energy in industry;

5. Suggests that, if a member state has a surplus of food, that nation makes their excess produce available to states struggling with famine, drought or poor quality of consumable goods, at an achievable or free cost;

6. Extends the authority of the International Food Welfare Organisation to include:

1. researching into: the causes of food wastage, the reduction of this waste, the ways in which uneaten food can be reused, and the points at which foodstuffs become unsafe for sapient consumption,
2. publishing this data for the benefit of member nations’ governments, food producers and businesses, food charities such as foodbanks, and the general citizens of member states’ populations,
3. lending aid, in the form of donations from the World Assembly General Fund as well as research, to food charities or governmental programs that have proven virtuous conduct and use techniques of strong efficacy to minimise wastage and maximise reuse, and
4. likewise giving monetary aid to member nations - this shall be used only accomplish the reduction of unnecessary foodwastage, either directly or indirectly;

7. Requires all businesses in member nations to take every reasonable step to reduce the amount of safely-consumable food and drink that is discarded, and implement stock rotation techniques that minimise product expiry, if not already in use;

8. Compels member nations to implement techniques that minimise food wastage, based on the research published by the International Food Wastage Organisation, where doing so would not be harmful to sapient health, objectively inferior to current methods, extremely expensive, or excessively difficult to accomplish in a reasonable time frame;

1. where a member state is unable to implement techniques within a reasonable time frame from the IFWO solely due to resource or technology constraints, it must implement them as soon as it is able to do so, and

9. Clarifies that food stored in stockpiles for the purpose of feeding future citizens in the event of a food shortage or sudden increase in demand does not count as a wastage under this resolution, and clarifies that food may be discarded if there is a significant risk that it poses a threat to sapient or sentient health, for example due to quarantine.

Coauthored by Kenmoria and Dmitry II.

“In the event that the repeal of the existing legislation, authored by Youssath, does pass, here is a possible replacement. You may notice that the nation of Kenmoria is now counted as a coauthor, this is because the legislation will this time be submitted by the delegation from the Australian rePublic.”

[Liberimery]

This looks like a copy paste of the last resolution. Care to explain what is different?

[East Meranopirus]

So, are you going to support a repeal of your just-passed resolution?

[Kenmoria]

This looks like a copy paste of the last resolution. Care to explain what is different?

(OOC: Clause 9 is completely new, along with clause 3a. I’ve changed the ‘b’ subclause for the ‘worried’ preambulatory statement, added businesses to clause 2, and altered the ‘further acknowledging’ clause. There are also minor wording changes throughout.)

[Youssath]

This looks like a copy paste of the last resolution. Care to explain what is different?

(OOC: Clause 9 is completely new, along with clause 3a. I’ve changed the ‘b’ subclause for the ‘worried’ preambulatory statement, added businesses to clause 2, and altered the ‘further acknowledging’ clause. There are also minor wording changes throughout.)

OOC: The introduction of Clause 9 and 3a does address most of the problems as stated in my dispatch, although it must be stated that the preliminary statements are nearly similar (although you have changed the raising food prices part, which is the most daunting part). Regardless, I would suggest that you can also implement a clause to promote free trade within WA member states to help combat the food wastage problem since rich nations can sell their unsold produce to poor nations at a cheap price, helping to create win-win scenarios, instead of delivering everything as foreign aid.

Other than that, this resolution does have my support, if the repeal passes.

[Kenmoria]

(OOC: Clause 9 is completely new, along with clause 3a. I’ve changed the ‘b’ subclause for the ‘worried’ preambulatory statement, added businesses to clause 2, and altered the ‘further acknowledging’ clause. There are also minor wording changes throughout.)

OOC: The introduction of Clause 9 and 3a does address most of the problems as stated in my dispatch, although it must be stated that the preliminary statements are nearly similar (although you have changed the raising food prices part, which is the most daunting part). Regardless, I would suggest that you can also implement a clause to promote free trade within WA member states to help combat the food wastage problem since rich nations can sell their unsold produce to poor nations at a cheap price, helping to create win-win scenarios, instead of delivering everything as foreign aid.

Other than that, this resolution does have my support, if the repeal passes.

(OOC: Clause 5 has been changed to one promoting the trade of food from countries with a surplus to those with a deficit. Although the preamble is very similar at present, I am planning to change it soon, especially since I am currently well over the 5000 character limit.)