Wasted food, drink costing $36 billion

[SoylentGreen]

That doesn't work. For one supplier to short change his own product, it would give other suppliers an advantage. Unless this is being imposed more universally, this is simply not how artificial scarcity works, that starts with farm subsidization in the first place. Does England subsidize its farms? Because that means a lot of waste, way way more than what we're otherwise talking about.

yet strangely enough it does seem to work. we are not referring to something that might happen but to something that is actually going on. possibly because the profit line is the same for the suppliers. there is more profit to be made from reducing the supply and avoiding the costs of shipping and handling and the loss through spoilage, while getting the profit of putting the cost up because of increased demand.

and yes the article also states that there is great waste through the consumer as well. SteveMcKay covered that and i agreed with him while pointing out that the topic in this thread is about waste from the distributors and suppliers not the consumer or the grower. and this topic is what can be done about how the suppliers operate.

Culprits? I already proved to you how regulations wouldn't be effective, did you have another way this could work besides expensive and useless bureaucracy which will invariably write laws to favor one particular business above the rest? Regulators are the government spin term for consolidators. We regulated the air-waves into a half dozen channels, we regulated radio into a few stations, news into 4 companies, energy regulation saw the complete take over of energy by a select few, and on and on and on without fail every single time.

do you actually bother to read other peoples comments ?
did i not just show you part of the article where the government is not making threats of regulating but instead wants business to reveal what there actual waste is.
here i will print it again in the hope you actually read it this time.

MPs want the Government to force retailers and manufacturers to reveal how much food their businesses waste annually. They are also calling for retailers with annual sales greater than £50 million to publish details of waste prevention strategies, spelling out targets to reduce each type of product.

it would seem that the government is asking what the business community is prepared to do, as apposed to you making a false assumption that the government only regulates.

They can only do this therefor by PR and education, not regulation. I'd support that, some PSA's saying "haste makes waste" or something.

no just educating business is not good enough that assumes they do not know what they are doing. what is needed is a government prepared to give business the opportunity to self correct and create there own regulations to live by. failing that the government needs the strength and teeth to enforce such regulations.

Yeah, though, if Europe never colonized Africa there would be far less starvation in the world. If America never neo-colonized SE Asia we'd have less starvation. This axillary fixer upper solutions do nothing to address the concerns of GLOBALISM. Globalism is the most profound cause of poverty and enslavement world wide

again nothing to do with this OP. if your trying to cover up your mistake of suggesting sending rotten food to africans, to late.

[TheChamp]

I noticed you ignored my suggestion to try and solve the problem yourself, I suppose you find solving problems in your society someone else's responsibility.

[SoylentGreen]

I noticed you ignored my suggestion to try and solve the problem yourself, I suppose you find solving problems in your society someone else's responsibility.

i notice that you have failed to respond to the idea that the government is allowing the businesses to first correct there own problems.
Which is a lot better than asking someone else to step in and do it for them. that would just be adding another unnecessary cost to the delivery system.

so to summarise your responses.
first you claim it should be left to the customer to decide if they want to buy second grade fruit. of course you failed to notice that customers are not even been given the choice of wanting that fruit because suppliers are not supplying it. because they are making good money only selling first rate food.

second, you ignore the article and rant against government for imposing regulations when that wasn't the case.
and now thirdly you pretend to have come up with a suggestion that is only a bit worse than the one the government seems to be suggesting. which is that they self correct rather than pay others to do what they should be able to do for themselves.

it seems to me you want to shift the blame and the cure on to everyone but those actually responsible for the problems. any particular reason that the suppliers get to sit back and watch everyone run around and fix the problem that they created.

[Apeman81]

Perhaps the "nanny state" can fix this with a new "clean your plate" law which mandates complete consumption of food served.

Wouldn't Moms love the help?

Of course, consumed food creates another form of waste.

Then there's the obesity issue.

So much human behavior to control...

[TheChamp]

i notice that you have failed to respond to the idea that the government is allowing the businesses to first correct there own problems.
Which is a lot better than asking someone else to step in and do it for them. that would just be adding another unnecessary cost to the delivery system.

I'm completely skeptical of that, yes.

it seems to me you want to shift the blame and the cure on to everyone but those actually responsible for the problems. any particular reason that the suppliers get to sit back and watch everyone run around and fix the problem that they created.

Because they entirely incur the cost of that problem: it isn't anyone else's concern, frankly.

[SoylentGreen]

Perhaps the "nanny state" can fix this with a new "clean your plate" law which mandates complete consumption of food served.

Wouldn't Moms love the help?

Of course, consumed food creates another form of waste.

Then there's the obesity issue.

So much human behavior to control...

sigh! try reading the article before throwing in a useless two cent piece that has nothing to do with the topic.

[SoylentGreen]

I'm completely skeptical of that, yes.

.

myself i am only somewhat sceptical, having seen the process of government getting business to self regulate work

some examples and i think they are also in america is the funeral services which have created their own code of conduct and recommend customers only use funeral services that display the membership badge to that code.

Because they entirely incur the cost of that problem: it isn't anyone else's concern, frankly

then it should be up to them to fix the problem. and if they cannot or will not then the government has every right to step in and force them.

[grandpa]

myself i am only somewhat sceptical, having seen the process
of government getting business to self regulate work.
some examples and i think they are also in america
is the funeral services which have created their own code
of conduct and recommend customers only use funeral services that
display the membership badge to that code.

I'm not too knowledgeable about funeral services (I suppose consumer groups can always negotiate discounts with local funeral homes), but I know that, if you have less bureaucratic hoops, you can bring something to market much faster.

Grandpa h.

[TheChamp]

then it should be up to them to fix the problem. and if they cannot or will not then the government has every right to step in and force them.

The government has the right to stop people from wasting? Not in my country it doesn't, and thankfully. Another excuse for the Nanny state.

[SoylentGreen]

The government has the right to stop people from wasting? Not in my country it doesn't, and thankfully. Another excuse for the Nanny state.

no, the consumer has a right to a fair deal. and if business refuses to give one then the only body with the power to enforce one is the government.

[SoylentGreen]

I'm not too knowledgeable about funeral services (I suppose consumer groups can always negotiate discounts with local funeral homes), but I know that, if you have less bureaucratic hoops, you can bring something to market much faster.

Grandpa h.

the idea of self regulation is not a new one . here we have the FDANZ.
What Does FDANZ Do
the only part in the process that the government plays in this is that of watchdog. the funeral services put this organisation together by themselves , for themselves to protect themselves from crooks and con men.

It can hardly be called nannyism, because that claim denies the fact that there are dishonest people.

[TheChamp]

no, the consumer has a right to a fair deal. and if business refuses to give one then the only body with the power to enforce one is the government.

I just have no reason to believe a business is no longer selling something they could be selling, seems like bad business to me.