Same-day food delivery is ‘scarring’ the environment and leads to a dreadful waste of food, an industry expert said today.
Hannah Anderson, boss of ethical food delivery service 44 Foods, was speaking after the Co-op announced it was partnering with Amazon Prime to allow its customers to shop online with same-day delivery.
“The need for speed when it comes to food results in a woefully wasteful industry, with chilled goods being kept in bulk awaiting orders – meaning when the goods get to the customer they have a significantly reduced shelf life,” says Hannah, Managing Director of 44 Foods.
“We need to forget fast food – and instead, plan our meals in advance, so unused food doesn’t just end up in the bin.
“There is an army of chilled food depots popping up beside motorways across the nation to feed this unhealthy need for poorly considered convenience.
“We all need to view food differently and adopt a far more sustainable approach if we are to preserve the planet for future generations.
“At 44 Foods, we are proud of our four-day delivery lead time on goods. This allows the farmers and producers to carefully select the best, freshest goods when they are ordered – meaning customers get a far better shelf life on products. We have no chilled warehouses or stores at all – just the freshest produce delivered directly.
“Rushing to get food which has sat in a warehouse to someone’s door the same day it has been ordered is also a disgraceful waste of fuel – and is leaving an ever increasing carbon footprint, scarring the planet for those we will be leaving it behind to.
“The pressure same-day delivery puts on staff and suppliers is also completely unreasonable – we allow our producers to set their own prices, and take the time to carefully choose products, rather than simply throwing together an order to meet a wholly unnecessary time limit.
“We desperately need to put sustainability above speed – for the good of everyone involved.”
