Opinion Food & Drink Our love for cheap imported food is costing us dearly The UAE is too dependent on food imports while about a third, worth $4 billion, is wasted By Akshata Kamath October 4, 2024, 7:57 AM Alamy/Zoonar/Elnur Amikishiyev Abundant fruit and vegetables in a Dubai supermarket. Cheaper imported produce displaces locally grown food and generates too much waste Thursday night, 8:30 pm. I was hunting for almond croissants at my local supermarket, but could not find any. Instead, I found 10 boxes of three-day-old butter variants. The clerk casually said: “Three days, then it’s trash.” He then showed me two huge rubbish bags filled with bread, thrown out every day. My heart sank. That’s when it hit me — this is a microcosm of a global crisis. Food wastage in the UAE and the wider Gulf is not just a paradox, but a human calamity that demands immediate attention. Despite local food production initiatives, governments import 70-80 percent of their food. Yet, 30-35 percent never reaches the plate, according to a 2022 study by the United Arab Emirates University. Four billion dollars’ worth of food, and the resources used to grow it, perish each year between farm and table, according to the study. The UAE’s success as a global hub is, ironically, fuelling its food waste crisis. How? The Emirates are home to an expatriate population from 100+ nations and are a global hub for international tourists. This diversity demands an ever-expanding variety and quantity of cuisines at restaurants and homes. Supermarkets are overflowing with imported delicacies, making it hard to manage sustainability and optimise supply chains. Imperfect produce There are other problems. Roy Debbas runs Eco Green Farms, one of many new-age farms in the UAE. He grows and supplies fresh leafy vegetables and strawberries to restaurants and niche supermarkets on demand. He says: “Wholesalers, food distributors, and supermarkets can buy imported produce in bulk. It’s cheaper than the fresh local veggies. Thus, cheaper week-old produce takes up most of the retail shelf space.” It’s an uncomfortable contradiction. We fill our trolleys with week-old, energy-intensive imports while local, fresh produce withers into compost. What if we treat food waste just as seriously as someone committing fraud? Beneath the glossy veneer of perfectly shaped fruits lurks a second problem. Picture a misshapen apple bursting with flavour and nutrients condemned to waste for failing to meet cosmetic beauty standards. These “ugly” fruits, comprising 10-12 percent of all produce, are conspicuously absent from store shelves. Retailers stockpile an additional 10-20 percent of flawless produce as backup, knowing consumers shun imperfection. The result? The “ugly” unsold produce, along with its backup, ends up in the dumpster. But should we throw out imperfect food? Bobby Kapoor, a chef and founder of Catalyst Food Solutions, a food advisory firm, has some suggestions. Mr. Kapoor has been working on flash-freezing imperfect looking mushrooms. HeroGoA selection of “ugly” or imperfect vegetables He wants to turn them into nutritious food bases and supply them to hotels. He believes that if imperfect produce is directed towards food processors at a lower price, more will set up and develop in the UAE. This would be more sustainable, reduce import dependency, and cut waste. Certain prohibitions around food usage and transport compound the problem. Though such laws may address valid concerns, they are also restrictive. For example, if Dubai has high quality food waste, it cannot send it to Abu Dhabi’s farms, where it’s needed. Stricter policies So, what to do? Since the UAE is vulnerable to supply chain disruptions, we need sustainable, strict food policies that optimise existing supplies and hold people accountable for waste. What if we treat food waste just as seriously as someone committing fraud? Many entrepreneurs and organisations are already integrating waste reduction techniques into their CSR plans, enhancing return on investment and building customer loyalty. Mr Kapoor uses date seeds, thrown away during Ramadan, as fertiliser. Atul Chopra, founder of FreshonTable, reuses coffee grounds to fertilise mushroom farms. Hotels chains like Hilton, Jumeirah and Rotana have committed to procuring three times more local produce. This is nurturing UAE farming by providing incentives to boost output and reduce costs. Why so much food is wasted in the UAE Cold storage in hot demand across the Gulf Arab states must raise intra-trade to buffer against food shocks Warwick Gird, general marketing manager at Spinneys in Dubai, says the upmarket supermarket chain is tackling food waste head-on. “We’re boosting local produce, turning old bread into croutons, and imperfect veggies into shots. We even use black larvae for composting.” But as a society, we must do more. There’s another observation: If local production is up, imports should ideally go down. Though no published stats confirm this, Spinneys has seen a slight drop in imported produce on its shelves. The UAE has the privilege of being able to afford abundant food. But considering how vulnerable the food ecosystem is, it is imperative that we make the most of what we have. This means using local and imperfect produce, prioritising sustainability over convenience and cost, and taking another look at what we consider to be “unwanted food.” Akshata Kamath is an Abu Dhabi-based business and finance journalist