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Writer's pictureDr Robyn Butler

The Global Food Waste problem

Updated: Sep 26

Every year on the 29 September, the United Nations recognises the International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste. Or as that is quite the mouthful, we here at Foodprint call it Food Waste Day. As it is such an important day for us, Foodprint has decided to do Food Waste Week. We will be releasing a series of blogs, social media posts, and ideas over the week so you can learn more about the problem, and most importantly, what you can do about it. 


Firstly, we need to understand why the United Nations, Foodprint, and you should care about food loss and waste.


Food waste is an environmental, social, and economic problem. One third of all food produced for human consumption is wasted (FAO, 2011). This wastage occurs all the way along the production line from the loss of food during harvest, storage and processing, through to retail, food service and household waste. The food waste that ends up in landfills contributes to 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions (IPCC, 2019). Food waste in landfills is a methane hotspot; a greenhouse gas that is 28 to 36 times more harmful than carbon dioxide (IPCC, 2021). See below for more about food loss and waste across the world.






Additionally to greenhouse gas emissions, the natural resources used throughout food production will also be wasted. This includes land used for farming and growing, soil nutrient loss, water, and energy. To put it in one perspective, a quarter of all freshwater consumed in food production is used for wasted food (Kummu et al., 2012). With growing strain on our natural resources, this is a significant proportion to end up in a landfill and not used in human or animal consumption.


Globally, more than enough food is produced to feed everyone on the planet, however consumer behaviour, inefficient production processes, and distribution systems mean that millions are left hungry and malnourished (FAO, 2024). The demand for food is rising with an increasing global population and social inequality. Managing food loss and waste across the system can reduce food insecurity, bolster economies, mitigate climate based migration, and lead to a healthier population.


The process of food loss and waste can highlight social inequality between countries, and within populations. In lower income countries, food is primarily lost during the harvest and production phase. Less efficient food distribution systems means more fresh food is lost from perishing prior to consumption. This food is likely to have higher nutritional value, meaning the quality of diets is reduced by consuming less fresh produce. Whereas, in higher income countries, food is wasted in retail, food service and household waste. The value of food is misunderstood and poor consumption habits lead to food being wasted post production.


Reducing food waste and loss is an essential portion of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It falls underSDG 12 Responsible Consumption and Production which aims to halve food waste at a retail and consumer level by 2030 (UNEP). Food waste is also considered in a number of other SDGs which only highlights its importance. 


We will spend the next few blogs looking at what Aotearoa is doing to reduce its own food loss and waste in this global context, and then work out what we as individuals can do to reduce our local and global environmental impact.



References:

FAO, 2011: Global Food Loss and Waste, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2011

IPCC, 2019: Climate Change and Land: an IPCC special report on climate change, desertification, land degradation, sustainable land management, food security, and greenhouse gas fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems [P.R. Shukla, J. Skea, E. Calvo Buendia, V. Masson-Delmotte, H.-O. Pörtner, D. C. Roberts, P. Zhai, R. Slade, S. Connors, R. van Diemen, M. Ferrat, E. Haughey, S. Luz, S. Neogi, M. Pathak, J. Petzold, J. Portugal Pereira, P. Vyas, E. Huntley, K. Kissick, M. Belkacemi, J. Malley, (eds.)]. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/9781009157988

IPCC, 2021: International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report, Working Group 1: The Physical science Basis, 2021

Kummu et al., 2012: M. Kummu, H. de Moel, M. Porkka, S. Siebert, O. Varis, and P.J. Ward; Lost food, wasted resources: Global food supply chain losses and their impacts on freshwater, cropland, and fertiliser use; Science of The Total Environment, Volume 438, 2012

FAO, 2024: The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2024, FAO, 2024

Champions 12.3: SDG Target 12.3 on Food Loss and Waste: 2023 Progress report, September 2023 DOI: https://champions123.org/publication/sdg-target-123-2023-progress-report

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