UNITED NATIONS, Oct 17 (IPS) – Food waste has been a major problem for environmentalists and humanitarians for decades. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that about a third of all global food products end up in landfills, amounting to about 1.3 billion tons. Conversely, according to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), approximately 3 billion people do not have access to nutritious or sufficient food that supports a healthy diet. Furthermore, food waste has been a leading factor in environmental degradation since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, with food in landfills releasing millions of tons of CO2 emissions into the atmosphere every year.
According to the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), approximately 60 percent of global food waste comes from households, totaling 631 million tons. The World Resources Institute estimates that food waste costs the global economy more than $1 trillion annually. These figures are expected to double by 2050.
Food waste is a global problem among high-income, upper-middle-income and lower-middle-income countries, with different average levels of household food waste. Yet much of the world’s food waste comes from economic powerhouses and densely populated countries, such as the United States, India and China. Higher levels of food waste are also linked to countries with warmer climates, with higher temperatures contributing to a significant reduction in shelf life.
UNEP’s Food Waste Index Report 2024 states that the average person wastes approximately 79 kilograms of food every year, which equates to 1.3 meals per day for everyone in the world. Excessive consumption exacerbates food price inflation, making access to food much more difficult for marginalized communities and developing countries. Reducing global food waste is crucial to ensuring global food security.
“The paradox we live in is that we have produced record levels of food in recent years, amid unbearable world hunger. The use of food products for non-food purposes is enormous and growing rapidly,” said Anuradha Mittal, Founder and Executive Director of the Oakland Institute.
In June 2024, the World Food Program (WFP) stated: ‘Right now, the world produces enough food to feed every child, woman and man on the planet. All the food produced but never eaten would be enough to feed two billion people. That is more than double the number of malnourished people around the world.”
Food waste is also a major sustainability issue because vast amounts of crucial resources, such as fossil fuels, water, agricultural land and electricity, are wasted in the production of food that ends up in landfills. About a third of the world’s arable land is used for agriculture. Furthermore, food production is responsible for 66 percent of global water consumption, with the average person’s daily food consumption requiring 2,000 to 5,000 liters of water to produce.
According to UNEP experts, food waste contributes almost ten percent of all greenhouse gas emissions, which is almost five times the total emissions from the aviation industry. The United States National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) adds that more than 23 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions are generated by agriculture. Agricultural exploitation, including deforestation and the excessive use of pesticides and fertilizers, is a major cause of biodiversity loss and habitat destruction.
Meat production takes a particularly high toll on the overall health of the planet. NCBI states, “Livestock farming not only has a negative impact on carbon emissions, but also on water footprint, water pollution and water scarcity.” The livestock and meat production industries contribute at least 18 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions. Estimates from the Water Footprint Calculator indicate that it takes more than 2,000 gallons of water to produce one pound of beef.
Producing food for livestock, like food production for humans, can have disastrous consequences for the environment. Mittal says livestock feed consists of food grown through intensive industrial agriculture based on fossil fuels, or from land taken from local and indigenous communities, due to the destruction of forests, water resources and biodiversity. “This comes at a very high cost to humanity,” she said.
“This comes at a very high price for humanity. “Food grown through intensive industrial agriculture based on fossil fuels, on land taken from indigenous and local communities, through the destruction of forests, waters and biodiversity, is used as animal feed,” says Mittal. told IPS.
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) reports that approximately 26 percent of all meat products sold are thrown away. Researchers from Leiden University in the Netherlands estimate that approximately 18 billion pigs, chickens, turkeys, cows, goats and sheep are thrown away during the production or packaging phase before ever reaching the consumer. This study does not take the fishing industry into account. According to the World Economic Forum, about 15 percent of all seafood is wasted every year. About a third of the losses of seafood products come from land-based processing.
Countries around the world are adopting cleaner habits when it comes to food production and consumerism. In recent years, Denmark has been hailed as a ‘champion’ among European countries in reducing food waste. From 2011 to 2017, the Danish government launched the “Stop Wasting Food” campaign to promote capillary retailing and non-excessive consumer practices, ultimately reducing food waste by 25 percent. “Stop Wasting Food” has recovered more than 300 tons of surplus food since its inception.
“The UK is the only country with a dual date labeling system, which provides both a best before date and a safe best before date. France has banned waste in supermarkets and is requiring food that is still okay to eat to be donated to those stores. in need. The United States recently announced a draft national strategy to reduce the amount of food sent to landfills, outlining approaches to divert excess food and implement more sustainable waste management practices,” said Danielle Nierenberg, president of Food Tank.
According to the WFP, approximately 9.4 percent of all children in China face stunted growth due to acute food insecurity. With China’s population constantly growing, food insecurity and carbon emissions are of paramount concern to officials. China, in collaboration with the Central Economic Work Conference, has announced an accelerated plan to adopt cleaner production and consumption practices.
UNEP aims to halve global food waste by 2030 by providing countries in the Food Waste Index with guidance on safer food production practices. Governments around the world are entering into public-private partnerships in an effort to reduce the pressure on the environment caused by food production and consumerism. In addition, the European Union (EU) has launched the ‘Farm to Fork Strategy’, an initiative that provides advice and financial support to industries transitioning to more sustainable practices.
“To address this crisis, a global treaty on the non-proliferation of industrial meat production to curb the seemingly endless expansion of non-food agricultural production is the first step,” Mittal said.
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© Inter Press Service (2024) — All rights reservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service