When we scrape off our dishes after a large meal, too full to finish
the remaining scraps on our plate, we rarely pause and think about the
significance of our action. It seems routine to us: if we have leftover
food scraps that are unfit for eating, shouldn’t they be thrown in the
garbage? Our routine practices, unfortunately, make it difficult for us
to conceptualize the magnitude of global food waste. The problem is
bigger than we think.
According to a recent report
by UNEP and the World Resources Institute (WRI), about one-third of all
food produced worldwide, worth around US$1 trillion, gets lost or
wasted in food production and consumption systems. When this figure is
converted to calories, this means that about 1 in 4 calories intended
for consumption is never actually eaten. In a world full of hunger,
volatile food prices , and social unrest, these statistics are more than
just shocking: they are environmentally, morally and economically
outrageous.
Let’s start with some basic statistics about food waste in North America and around the world.
Worldwide Food Waste Facts
- Every year, consumers in industrialized countries waste almost as much food as the entire net food production of sub-Saharan Africa (222 million vs. 230 million tons)
- The amount of food lost and wasted every year is equal to more than half of the world’s annual cereals crops (2.3 billion tons in 2009/10)
- More facts
North American Food Waste Facts
- In the USA, organic waste is the second highest component of landfills, which are the largest source of methane emissions
- In the USA, 30-40% of the food supply is wasted, equaling more than 20 pounds of food per person per month
- More facts
Needless to say, the numbers are not promising. But don’t be
disheartened! As consumers, we can do a lot to change the situation.
Think. Be a smart shopper and think about what you
are buying and when it will be eaten. Wasting food is often a
subconscious act – become aware of how much food you throw away. Plan
meals and use shopping lists. Bring your leftovers home from restaurants
in reusable containers.
Eat. Become a more mindful eater. Eyes bigger than your stomach? Request smaller portions and become a leftovers guru.
Save. Save your food, save your money and save the environment. Donate to food banks and become a conscious consumer.
If you want to read more about the Think.Eat.Save food waste campaign, follow this link and get involved!
All statistics are fully referenced in Tristram Stuart, Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal (Penguin, 2009).”
There are nearly one billion malnourished people in the world, but the
approximately 40 million tonnes of food wasted by US households, retailers
and food services each year would be enough to satisfy the hunger of every
one of them.
The irrigation water used globally to grow food that is wasted would be
enough for the domestic needs (at 200 litres per person per day) of 9
billion people - the number expected on the planet by 2050.
If we planted trees on land currently used to grow unnecessary surplus and
wasted food, this would offset a theoretical maximum of 100% of greenhouse
gas emissions from fossil fuel combustion.
10% of rich countries' greenhouse gas emissions come from growing food that
is never eaten.
The UK, US and Europe have nearly twice as much food as is required by the
nutritional needs of their populations. Up to half the entire food supply
is wasted between the farm and the fork. If crops wastefully fed to
livestock are included, European countries have more than three times more
food than they need, while the US has around four times more food than is
needed, and up to three-quarters of the nutritional value is lost before it
reaches people's mouths.
UK Households waste around 20% of all the food they buy – but the good
news is that this suggests a 17% reduction since 2007. We're improving!
All the world's nearly one billion hungry people could be lifted out of
malnourishment on less than a quarter of the food that is wasted in the US,
UK and Europe.
A third of the world's entire food supply could be saved by reducing waste –
or enough to feed 3 billion people; and this would still leave enough
surplus for countries to provide their populations with 130 per cent of
their nutritional requirements.
Between 2 and 500 times more carbon dioxide can be saved by feeding food
waste to pigs rather than sending it for anaerobic digestion (the UK
government's preferred option). But under European laws feeding food waste
to pigs is banned. In Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, by contrast, it is
mandatory to feed some food waste to pigs.
2.3 million tonnes of fish discarded in the North Atlantic and the North
Sea each year; 40 to 60% of all fish caught in Europe are discarded – either
because they are the wrong size, species, or because of the ill-governed
European quota system.
An estimated 20 to 40% of UK fruit and vegetables rejected even before they
reach the shops – mostly because they do not match the supermarkets'
excessively strict cosmetic standards.
8.3 million hectares of land required to produce just the meat and dairy
products wasted in UK homes and in US homes, shops and restaurants. That is
7 times the amount of Amazon rainforest destroyed in Brazil in one year,
largely for cattle grazing and soy production to export for livestock feed.
The bread and other cereal products thrown away in UK households alone would
have been enough to lift 30 million of the world's hungry people out of
malnourishment
4600 kilocalories per day of food are harvested for every person on the
planet; of these, only around 2000 on average are eaten – more than half of
it is lost on the way.
24 to 35% of school lunches end up in the bin.
An estimated 15 million tonnes of food wasted in Britain from the plough to
the plate.
All Food Waste Facts are from Tristram Stuart's Waste: Uncovering the Global
Food Scandal (Penguin, 2009).
- See more at: http://www.feeding5k.org/food-waste-facts.php#sthash.CwBTgwup.dpuf
There are nearly one billion malnourished people in the world, but the
approximately 40 million tonnes of food wasted by US households, retailers
and food services each year would be enough to satisfy the hunger of every
one of them.
The irrigation water used globally to grow food that is wasted would be
enough for the domestic needs (at 200 litres per person per day) of 9
billion people - the number expected on the planet by 2050.
If we planted trees on land currently used to grow unnecessary surplus and
wasted food, this would offset a theoretical maximum of 100% of greenhouse
gas emissions from fossil fuel combustion.
10% of rich countries' greenhouse gas emissions come from growing food that
is never eaten.
The UK, US and Europe have nearly twice as much food as is required by the
nutritional needs of their populations. Up to half the entire food supply
is wasted between the farm and the fork. If crops wastefully fed to
livestock are included, European countries have more than three times more
food than they need, while the US has around four times more food than is
needed, and up to three-quarters of the nutritional value is lost before it
reaches people's mouths.
UK Households waste around 20% of all the food they buy – but the good
news is that this suggests a 17% reduction since 2007. We're improving!
All the world's nearly one billion hungry people could be lifted out of
malnourishment on less than a quarter of the food that is wasted in the US,
UK and Europe.
A third of the world's entire food supply could be saved by reducing waste –
or enough to feed 3 billion people; and this would still leave enough
surplus for countries to provide their populations with 130 per cent of
their nutritional requirements.
Between 2 and 500 times more carbon dioxide can be saved by feeding food
waste to pigs rather than sending it for anaerobic digestion (the UK
government's preferred option). But under European laws feeding food waste
to pigs is banned. In Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, by contrast, it is
mandatory to feed some food waste to pigs.
2.3 million tonnes of fish discarded in the North Atlantic and the North
Sea each year; 40 to 60% of all fish caught in Europe are discarded – either
because they are the wrong size, species, or because of the ill-governed
European quota system.
An estimated 20 to 40% of UK fruit and vegetables rejected even before they
reach the shops – mostly because they do not match the supermarkets'
excessively strict cosmetic standards.
8.3 million hectares of land required to produce just the meat and dairy
products wasted in UK homes and in US homes, shops and restaurants. That is
7 times the amount of Amazon rainforest destroyed in Brazil in one year,
largely for cattle grazing and soy production to export for livestock feed.
The bread and other cereal products thrown away in UK households alone would
have been enough to lift 30 million of the world's hungry people out of
malnourishment
4600 kilocalories per day of food are harvested for every person on the
planet; of these, only around 2000 on average are eaten – more than half of
it is lost on the way.
24 to 35% of school lunches end up in the bin.
An estimated 15 million tonnes of food wasted in Britain from the plough to
the plate.
All Food Waste Facts are from Tristram Stuart's Waste: Uncovering the Global
Food Scandal (Penguin, 2009).
- See more at: http://www.feeding5k.org/food-waste-facts.php#sthash.CwBTgwup.dpuf
There are nearly one billion malnourished people in the world, but the
approximately 40 million tonnes of food wasted by US households, retailers
and food services each year would be enough to satisfy the hunger of every
one of them.
- See more at: http://www.feeding5k.org/food-waste-facts.php#sthash.CwBTgwup.dpuf
All statistics are fully referenced in Tristram Stuart, Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal (Penguin, 2009).” - See more at: http://www.feeding5k.org/food-waste-facts.php#sthash.CwBTgwup.dpuf
All statistics are fully referenced in Tristram Stuart, Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal (Penguin, 2009).” - See more at: http://www.feeding5k.org/food-waste-facts.php#sthash.CwBTgwup.dpuf
All statistics are fully referenced in Tristram Stuart, Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal (Penguin, 2009).” - See more at: http://www.feeding5k.org/food-waste-facts.php#sthash.CwBTgwup.dpuf
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