Food Waste |
Here, the figures
are self-explanatory: as much as 1.3 billion tons per year of food is
lost or wasted throughout the supply chain, from initial agricultural
production down to final household consumption, according to the UN.
Moreover, it is not
just about losing or wasting food--it also implies a waste of resources
used in production such as land, water, energy and inputs, increasing
the greenhouse gas emissions.
"Up to one third of
all food is spoiled or squandered before it is consumed by people. It
is an excess in an age where almost a billion people go hungry," adds
the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
But... What Is Food Loss and Food Waste?
Food loss and food
waste refer to the decrease of food in subsequent stages of the food
supply chain intended for human consumption. Food is lost or wasted
throughout the supply chain, from initial production down to final
household consumption, explains FAO.
The decrease may be
accidental or intentional, it adds, but ultimately leads to less food
available for all. Food that gets spilled or spoilt before it reaches
its final product or retail stage is called food loss, it adds. This may
be due to problems in harvesting, storage, packing, transport,
infrastructure or market /price mechanisms, as well as institutional and
legal frameworks.
Harvested bananas
that fall off a truck, for instance, are considered food loss, according
to FAO. Food that is fit for human consumption but is not consumed
because it is or left to spoil or discarded by retailers or consumers is
called food waste.
Key facts on food loss and waste you should know!
- Roughly one third
of the food produced in the world for human consumption every year --
approximately 1.3 billion tonnes -- gets lost or wasted.
.
- Food losses and
waste amounts to roughly US$ 680 billion in industrialised countries and
US$ 310 billion in developing countries.
.
- Industrialised
and developing countries dissipate roughly the same quantities of food
-- respectively 670 and 630 million tonnes.
.
- Fruits and vegetables, plus roots and tubers have the highest wastage rates of any food.
.
- Global
quantitative food losses and waste per year are roughly 30% for cereals,
40-50% for root crops, fruits and vegetables, 20% for oil seeds, meat
and dairy plus 35% for fish.
.
- Every year,
consumers in rich countries waste almost as much food (222 million
tonnes) as the entire net food production of sub-Saharan Africa (230
million tonnes).
.
- The amount of
food lost or wasted every year is equivalent to more than half of the
world's annual cereals crop (2.3 billion tonnes in 2009/2010).
.
- Per capita waste
by consumers is between 95-115 kg a year in Europe and North America,
while consumers in sub-Saharan Africa, south and south-eastern Asia,
each throw away only 6-11 kg a year.
This may be because
of rigid or misunderstood date marking rules, improper storage, buying
or cooking practices. A carton of brown-spotted bananas thrown away by a
shop, for instance, is considered food waste, says the UN agency.
Where Is Food Lost and Wasted?
Significantly, the
World Resources Institute (WRI) explains that food loss and waste occurs
more 'near the fork' in developed regions and more 'near the farm' in
developing regions.
In the case of the
European Union member countries, for instance, recent estimates of
European food waste levels (FUSIONS, 2016) reveal that 70 per cent of
the European bloc of 27 states, food waste arises in the household, food
service and retail sectors, with production and processing sectors
contributing the remaining 30 per cent.
Such high rates led
the EU member states to commit to meeting the Sustainable Development
Goals (SDG), adopted in September 2015, including a target to halve per
capita food waste at the retail and consumer level by 2030, and reduce
food losses along the food production and supply chains.
Meanwhile, in the United States, food waste is estimated at between 30-40 per cent of the food supply.
This estimate,
based on estimates from USDA's Economic Research Service of 31 per cent
food loss at the retail and consumer levels, according to the Office of
the Chief Economist, United States Department of Agriculture.
This amount of
waste, adds the Office of the Chief Economist in US, has far-reaching
impacts on food security, resource conservation and climate change:
Wholesome food that could have helped feed families in need is sent to landfills.
The land, water,
labor, energy and other inputs used in producing, processing,
transporting, preparing, storing, and disposing of discarded food are
pulled away from uses that may have been more beneficial to society -
and generate impacts on the environment that may endanger the long-run
health of the planet.
Food waste, which
is the single largest component going into municipal landfills,quickly
generates methane, helping to make landfills the third largest source of
methane in the United States.
On September 16,
2015, the first-ever national food loss and waste goal in the United
States was launched, calling for a 50-percent reduction by 2030.
What to Do?
Back to the global
level, the UN specialised agency reminds that hunger is still one of the
most urgent development challenges, yet the world is producing more
than enough food.
The FAO-led SAVE
FOOD: Global Initiative on Food Loss and Waste Reduction is partnering
with international organisations, the private sector and civil society
to enable food systems to reduce food loss and waste in both the
developing and the industrialised world.
Governments,
research institutions, producers, distributors, retailers and consumers
all have different ideas about the problem - the solutions - and the
ability to change. What are they waiting for?
No comments:
Post a Comment