The FACTS you need to know about food waste!
14 December 2020
Numbers relating to food waste
Did you know we produce enough food to feed 10 billion people (the current 2020 population is 7.8 billion), but according to World Aid Foundation around 821 million people are in hunger (1 in 9 of world population still go to bed with empty stomach). |
Food Waste is not just a social or humanitarian concerns - it is also about environment.
The impact of food waste on the climate crisis
Did you know we waste on average 0.5 kg food each day? The direct impact of food waste is climate change. According to U.N. Food and Agriculture Organisation, on average 30 percent of food is wasted globally across the supply chain and it contributes to 8 percent of the total global greenhouse gas emissions. If food waste were a country, it would be on the third place after China and USA.
Where does food waste occur?
In high- and medium-income countries (mostly European countries, USA, UK, etc.), 40 percent of food waste occurs in markets and by consumers. According to FoodPrint, the majority of food waste comes from households. These are the 5 major contributors of food waste in households:
“I have worked in the catering industry where lots of food was thrown away each day as too much food was prepared or ordered. Food that was perfectly healthy was thrown away rather than given to people for free as the directors wanted to prevent ordering or preparing too much food on purpose. I could never believe my eyes when I saw what was thrown away and I still stand for a different policy in this industry!” -- Claire
What can we do in our daily life to prevent food waste? You can read it in our next post!
Sources
The impact of food waste on the climate crisis
Did you know we waste on average 0.5 kg food each day? The direct impact of food waste is climate change. According to U.N. Food and Agriculture Organisation, on average 30 percent of food is wasted globally across the supply chain and it contributes to 8 percent of the total global greenhouse gas emissions. If food waste were a country, it would be on the third place after China and USA.
Where does food waste occur?
In high- and medium-income countries (mostly European countries, USA, UK, etc.), 40 percent of food waste occurs in markets and by consumers. According to FoodPrint, the majority of food waste comes from households. These are the 5 major contributors of food waste in households:
- Food spoilage: about 2/3 of food goes bad before using it
- Over-preparing: the remaining 1/3 is due to serving or cooking too much food
- Date label confusion: e.g. “sell by”, “best if used by”, “expires by” and so forth
- Overbuying: sales/promotions on unusual items which do not fit in regular meal plans
- Poor planning: no meal plans and shopping lists before going to the supermarket
“I have worked in the catering industry where lots of food was thrown away each day as too much food was prepared or ordered. Food that was perfectly healthy was thrown away rather than given to people for free as the directors wanted to prevent ordering or preparing too much food on purpose. I could never believe my eyes when I saw what was thrown away and I still stand for a different policy in this industry!” -- Claire
What can we do in our daily life to prevent food waste? You can read it in our next post!
Sources
- https://medium.com/@jeremyerdman/we-produce-enough-food-to-feed-10-billion-people-so-why-does-hunger-still-exist-8086d2657539
- https://www.foodaidfoundation.org/world-hunger-statistics.html
- https://www.unenvironment.org/thinkeatsave/get-informed/worldwide-food-waste
- https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/theworldpost/wp/2018/07/31/food-waste/
- https://foodprint.org/issues/the-problem-of-food-waste/