Thursday 12 December 2019

Tesco and WWF to help shoppers choose sustainable food

The supermarket chain and the environmental charity have combined forces to show consumers how to eat more sustainably with its sustainable basket metric.

The campaign partners say they’re working to halve the environmental impact of the average shopping basket. To do this they will track the entire ‘food value chain’, from food production (farming, fishing and manufacturing) and food delivery (transportation, packaging and stores), right through to food consumption (food waste and dietary choice).

The measure will track the environmental impact of a sample of some of the most regularly purchased foods against key sustainability criteria, including climate change, deforestation and food and packaging waste.

Tesco and WWF will run a first full assessment against the metric in early 2020 and publish the results. They will also then be able to confirm a date by which they believe the target of halving the impact of the average UK shopping basket can be reached, with 2030 a potential ambition.

Tesco Group Chief Executive, Dave Lewis said,  “Throughout our partnership, we’ll be carrying out industry-leading work to make food production more sustainable, including sourcing commodities like soy and palm oil from verified zero-deforestation areas, and improving soil health and water usage on farms in the UK. Working together we can help to ensure the natural environment is protected for future generations.”

Meanwhile WWF UK Chief Executive, Tanya Steele said, “Food production is at the core of many of the environmental crises facing our planet – it’s the leading cause of tropical deforestation and is responsible for 24% of the world’s greenhouse gases. The launch of the Sustainable Basket Metric will enable Tesco to fully understand the end-to-end sustainability impact of some of the most popular foods, and we’re proud to have worked with them to create it.”