Global food waste is a multifaceted issue from farming, processing or preparation, all the way to our trash cans, it’s a long journey and it affects the environment every step of the way. Today, there are countless ways to live more sustainably and arguably one of the most important involves reducing food waste.
Every year on September 29 the world observes the International Day of Awareness on Food Loss and Waste Reduction (IDAFLW), which the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) describes as a call to action for people to take action to reduce food loss and waste.
This year will be the fourth IDAFLW with the 2023 theme “Reducing food loss and waste: Taking Action to Transform Food Systems”.
When food is discarded, all the inputs – producing, processing, transporting, preparing, and storing as well as the resources including water, land, energy, and labour used for the now-discarded food are also wasted.
Difference between food ‘loss’ and ‘waste’
Food “wastage” refers to any food lost by deterioration or waste and encompasses both food “loss” and food “waste,” according to the FAO.
Food “loss” occurs before the food reaches the consumer which could be a result of issues in production, storage, processing and transport or distribution. It also refers to a decrease in the mass or nutritional value (quality) of food.
Whereas, food “waste” refers to food which is appropriate for human consumption which was consciously discarded at the retail or consumption levels.
In a world where hundreds of millions of people are affected by hunger every day, reducing food wastage is essential since tons of edible food is either lost and/or wasted globally.
Every year, a staggering 1.6 billion tonnes of food is wasted across the world out of which, 1.3 billion tonnes is edible, according to the FAO. This also costs the world around $750 billion annually.
At least 17 per cent of total global food production is wasted by households, in food service and in retail altogether, according to the UN, while 13 per cent is lost between harvest and retail.
Not to mention a total of one-third of the food that is produced worldwide is either lost or wasted. Meanwhile, in 2022, between 691 and 783 million people faced hunger, according to the FAO.
United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) food wastage index in 2021, noted that out of the 931 million tonnes of food wasted, 61 per cent was from households while 26 per cent and 13 per cent of food wastage was by food service and retail, respectively.
According to the UNEP report, around every year as much as 68.76 million tonnes of food (or 50 kilograms per person) is wasted every year in Indian households. One-third of all food in India is wasted or spoiled before it is eaten, according to the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).
India also accounts for seven per cent of the food wasted across the world with up to 40 per cent of the food produced wasted. But food wastage is not just a social or humanitarian concern it is also an environmental issue.
How does it affect the environment?
The UNEP estimates that eight to 10 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions are associated with food that is not consumed. Additionally, global food waste contributes roughly 20 per cent of the global greenhouse gas emissions.
“If food loss and waste were a country, it would be the third biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions (after the United States and China),” Inger Andersen, executive director of UNEP, stated in the report.
She also noted how food waste burdens waste management systems exacerbates food insecurity and is a “major contributor” to three planetary crises – climate change, nature and biodiversity loss, and pollution and waste.
Food waste releases an estimated 3.3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide per year, while each of us produces 74 kilograms of food waste every year, according to the FAO.
Additionally, only a small percentage of all food wastage is composted and much of it ends up in landfills and accounts for a large part of municipal solid waste.
Methane – which is 28 times stronger greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide – from landfills represents one of the largest sources of greenhouse emissions from the waste sector, reported the UN agency.
This has reportedly been attributed to the food being buried under other waste and decomposing in anaerobic conditions which creates a favourable environment for bacteria that produce methane.
“The whole characteristics of food – that they’re rich in energy, rich in proteins, rich in nutrients and that they’re relatively easy to extract that energy from – means that in the landfill environment, they will generate more methane than a lot of other waste components,” said Max Krause from the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA), as quoted by Reuters.
Not to mention, the amount of resources required to produce that food which ends up in these landfills.
The water used to produce the food wasted could be used by nine billion people. While 28 per cent of the world’s agricultural area is used annually to produce food that is lost or wasted, as per FAO. Food waste also accounts for 38 per cent of total energy usage in the global food system.
There are many ways to reduce food waste and adopt habits which will lessen the strain on our natural resources as well as protect our environment. Here are 15 quick tips by the FAO for becoming a food hero.
1. Adopt a healthier, more sustainable diet
2. Buy only what you need: Plan your meals, make that shopping list and stick to it to avoid impulse buying.
3. Pick ugly fruits and vegetables: Don’t judge food by its appearance! Fruits and vegetables are often thrown away because they don’t meet arbitrary cosmetic standards but they taste the same.
4. Store food wisely: Move old items to the front of your cupboard or fridge and new ones to the back, FAO suggests. Use airtight containers to keep open food fresh in the fridge and ensure packets are closed to stop insects from getting in.
5. Understand food labelling: Sometimes food is still safe to eat after the “best before” date, whereas it’s the “use-by” date that tells you when it is no longer safe to eat.
6. Start small: Take smaller portions at home or share large dishes at restaurants.
7. Love your leftovers: Even if you don’t eat everything right away, freeze it for later or use the leftovers as an ingredient in another meal.
8. Put your food waste to use: Don’t throw away those food scraps instead compost them.
9. Respect food: Do your research, and reconnect with your food by knowing the process that goes into making it.
10. Support local food producers: Buy local products to not only support local farmers, and small businesses but also help fight pollution by reducing delivery distances.
11. Keep fish populations afloat: Eat fish species that are more abundant, such as mackerel or herring, rather than those that are at risk of being overfished, like cod or tuna.
12. Use less water: While it is important for farmers to use less water to grow food, reducing food waste also saves all the water that goes into producing it.
13. Keep our soils and water clean: Items such as batteries, paints, mobile phones, medicine, chemicals, fertilisers, tires, ink cartridges, etc. can seep into our soils and water supply, damaging the natural resources that produce our food.
14: Eat more pulses and veggies
15. Sharing is caring: Donate food that would otherwise be wasted.
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