Belgium had the most food waste, and the Philippines had the least. (The study covered two-thirds of the world's population, and did not include large food-wasting countries such as the United States.)
Top 5 ways to cut down on food waste
- Don't over buy. Keep track of what you've bought and used.
- Check the use-by dates of fresh food when you buy it. These are the dates to take notice of, rather than the best-before dates.
- Plan ahead.
- Get to know your grocer.
- Love your freezer.
Food waste that ends up in landfills produces a large amount of methane – a more powerful greenhouse gas than even CO2. If you look at land usage, around 1.4 billion hectares of land, which is roughly one-third the world's total agricultural land area, is used to grow food that is wasted.
Food waste is both an ethical and environmental issue. It should concern us that we waste nearly 40% of the food we produce and purchase in this food-abundant nation. Three messages then: participate in the national effort, commit to wasting less food, and if you can, produce some food of your own.
Resources could be conserved for more productive uses. When food is wasted, so too is the land, water, labor, energy and other inputs that are used in producing, processing, transporting, preparing, storing, and disposing of the discarded food.
Wasting food also raises social questions, particularly given the current global financial crisis, rising food prices and international food shortages. If only one-fourth of the food lost or wasted globally was consumed it would be sufficient to feed 870 million people, 12 per cent of the world's current population.
CAUSES: Food is wasted by the entire food chain: farmers, retailers, food industries, caterers and by consumers. People buy too much food, for them to eat. They do not plan the exact amount of food they want to cook or eat.
Uncollected solid waste also increases risk of injury, and infection. Waste from agriculture and industries can also cause serious health risks. Other than this, co-disposal of industrial hazardous waste with municipal waste can expose people to chemical and radioactive hazards.
For example, wildlife may die of starvation, disperse and live elsewhere, or switch their dietary preferences to other wild prey or livestock, with the latter potentially resulting in increased human-wildlife conflict. Monitoring of such impacts may be necessary when reducing the availability of food waste to wildlife.
Reducing Food Loss Close to the Farm
- Improved storage methods.
- Redistribute food.
- Better food date labels.
- Reduce portion sizes.
- Launch consumer awareness campaigns.
Global food waste is a far-reaching problem with tremendous financial, ethical and environmental costs. An estimated 1.3 billion tonnes of food is wasted globally each year, one third of all food produced for human consumption, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations.
In 2018 alone, EPA estimates that about 63 million tons of wasted food were generated in the commercial, institutional, and residential sectors, with about 32 percent being managed by animal feed, bio-based materials/biochemical processing, codigestion/anaerobic digestion, composting, donation, land application, and
Each day in the United States approximately one pound of food per person is wasted. This equates to 40.7 million tons (81.4 billion pounds) of food waste generated in America in 2017, or between 30-40 percent of the food supply, according to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
In economically developed countries, consumers are responsible for the majority of food waste at 38-40%, and the household has the highest environmental, social and economic costs.
According to a recent report, a half a pound of food is wasted per meal in restaurants, whether it's from what is left on a customer's plate, or in the kitchen itself. Approximately 85% of the food that isn't used in a typical American restaurant is thrown out while only a small percentage is recycled or donated.
Tips On Reducing Food Waste At Home
- Plan ahead to reduce food waste. As best as you can, plan your meals the week ahead.
- Be a smart shopper. One of the most important ways to reduce food waste is by checking the “best-before” and “packaged on” dates when grocery shopping.
- Store foods the right way to reduce food waste.
- Stock your pantry.
- Use leftovers wisely.
Food waste is recyclable and hence must be used smartly in order to trim down the greenhouse emissions that come from landfills.
- Compost the Kitchen and Garden Scrap.
- Put Your Waste to Work.
- Creative Use of Leftovers.
- Donate Waste for Animal Feed.
- Convert Food Scrap into Biogas.
- Reuse the Food Packaging Material.
In 2010, the average
American generated about 219 pounds (99 kg) of
food waste, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (2).
Every little bit helps.
- Shop Smart.
- Store Food Correctly.
- Learn to Preserve.
- Don't Be a Perfectionist.
- Keep Your Fridge Clutter-Free.
- Save Leftovers.
- Eat the Skin.
- Eat the Yolk.
Eight Ways to Reduce Waste
- Use a reusable bottle/cup for beverages on-the-go.
- Use reusable grocery bags, and not just for groceries.
- Purchase wisely and recycle.
- Compost it!
- Avoid single-use food and drink containers and utensils.
- Buy secondhand items and donate used goods.
- Shop local farmers markets and buy in bulk to reduce packaging.
