Key facts on food loss and waste you should know!

 Roughly one third of the food produced in the world for human consumption every year — approximately
1.3 billion tonnes — gets lost or wasted.
 Food losses and waste amounts to roughly US$ 680 billion in industrialized countries and US$ 310 billion
in developing countries.
 Industrialized and developing countries dissipate roughly the same quantities of food — respectively 670
and 630 million tonnes.

 Fruits and vegetables, plus roots and tubers have the highest wastage rates of any food.
 Global quantitative food losses and waste per year are roughly 30% for cereals, 40-50% for root crops,
fruits and vegetables, 20% for oil seeds, meat and dairy plus 35% for fish.
 Every year, consumers in rich countries waste almost as much food (222 million tonnes) as the entire net
food production of sub-Saharan Africa (230 million tonnes).
 The amount of food lost or wasted every year is equivalent to more than half of the world's annual cereals
crop (2.3 billion tonnes in 2009/2010).
 Per capita waste by consumers is between 95-115 kg a year in Europe and North America, while
consumers in sub-Saharan Africa, south and south-eastern Asia, each throw away only 6-11 kg a year.

 Total per capita food production for human consumption is about 900 kg a year in rich countries, almost
twice the 460 kg a year produced in the poorest regions.
 In developing countries 40% of losses occur at post-harvest and processing levels while in industrialized
countries more than 40% of losses happen at retail and consumer levels.
 At retail level, large quantities of food are wasted due to quality standards that over-emphasize
appearance.
 Food loss and waste also amount to a major squandering of resources, including water, land, energy,
labour and capital and needlessly produce greenhouse gas emissions, contributing to global warming and
climate change.
 In developing countries food waste and losses occur mainly at early stages of the food value chain and
can be traced back to financial, managerial and technical constraints in harvesting techniques as well as
storage and cooling facilities. Strengthening the supply chain through the direct support of farmers and
investments in infrastructure, transportation, as well as in an expansion of the food and packaging
industry could help to reduce the amount of food loss and waste.
 In medium- and high-income countries food is wasted and lost mainly at later stages in the supply chain.
Differing from the situation in developing countries, the behaviour of consumers plays a huge part in
industrialized countries. The study identified a lack of coordination between actors in the supply chain as
a contributing factor. Farmer-buyer agreements can be helpful to increase the level of coordination.
Additionally, raising awareness among industries, retailers and consumers as well as finding beneficial
use for food that is presently thrown away are useful measures to decrease the amount of losses and
waste.
We produce enough food to feed 10
billion people. So why does hunger
still exist?
Jeremy Erdman
Follow
Feb 2, 2018 · 4 min read

This is the second article of seventeen exploring the challenges of

each of the United Nation’s Seventeen Sustainable Development
Goals.

Today, 795 million people are hungry. Another 2 billion are

expected to join them by 2050.

However, global food production is incredibly efficient. The

world’s farmers produce enough food to feed 1.5x the global
population. That’s enough to feed 10 billion (we are at 7.6 billion
currently).

Despite this excess, hunger still exists.

How is that possible?

Goal 2: End hunger, achieve food
security and improved nutrition and
promote sustainable agriculture
Our inability to feed the entirety of the world’s population is
mostly due to food waste. Globally, 30–40% of all food is wasted.

In less developed countries, this waste is due to lack of

infrastructure and knowledge to keep food fresh. For example,
India loses 30–40% of its produce because retail and wholesalers
lack cold storage.

In more developed countries, the lower relative cost of food

reduces the incentive to waste. And as portion size grows, more
and more food gets thrown out and wasted.
Our food distribution system is inefficient. But this inefficiency
won’t drive 2 billion more people into hunger by 2050.

Climate change will.

Change in potential average yields for corn, potatoes, rice, and wheat in 2050

Climate change will reshape the world’s agricultural landscape.

Colder climates will become more favorable to agriculture, but
many current agriculture powerhouses will see significant declines
in yield.

The most notably impacted:

 The US’s Midwest region will see at least a 20% decline in

corn production.
 Brazil will see a 16% drop in corn production.
 Indonesia will see a 20% drop in corn production
To safeguard against these changes, farmers will need to both
modernize agricultural methods and diversify their fields.

In terms of outcomes, modernizing methods falls into the same

bucket as updating food infrastructure. Both require investment
and knowledge to improve yield and food availability.

But diversifying fields? That incorporates more crops and methods

into agricultural processes. And, ultimately, it can reinvent
agriculture itself.

Diversifying and Decentralizing

Agriculture
Diversifying our crops is paramount to our health. According to
the UN, 75% of crop biodiversity has disappeared since the 1900s.
Agricultural biodiversity contributes to more nutritious diets and
builds more resilient and sustainable farming systems.

However, another necessary component to building resilient and

sustainable farming systems is to reduce risk. Climate change-
induced impacts will rock many agricultural hubs. To minimize
these impacts on food availability, we need to decentralize its
production.

And urban agriculture is a great place to start.

Urban agriculture incorporates producing healthy food into an

environment long detached from its food production.

Let’s use City Fruit, a nonprofit in Seattle, as an example.

Seattle has an abundance of fruit trees throughout its
neighborhoods and parks. Every year, much of this fruit falls, rots,
and wastes. City Fruit saw a need and began diverting this fruit to
communities lacking healthy food access.

In just a few years, City Fruit began harvesting over 55,000

pounds of fruit. This amount of fruit not just feeds thousands, but
nourishes them as well. It makes use of local resources, and as a
result, improves community resiliency.

To end hunger, we need to replicate these types of stories across

the globe. We need to identify communities’ abundant local
resources, strengthen them, and utilize them to improve food
access to those who need it most.

Yes, it will be challenging.

And yes, it will require innovation.

But I’m excited to see what the world creates.

INDIANS waste as much food as the whole of United Kingdom consumes – a statistic that may not so
much indicative of our love of surfeit, as it is of our population. Still, food wastage is an alarming issue
in India. Our street and garbage bins, landfills have sufficient proof to prove it.

Weddings, canteens, hotels, social and family functions, households spew out so much food.
According to the United Nations Development Programme, up to 40% of the food produced
in India is wasted. About 21 million tonnes of wheat are wasted in Indiaand 50% of all food
across the world meets the same fate and never reaches the needy. In fact, according to
the agriculture ministry, INR 50,000 crores worth of food produced is wasted every year in
the country.

In India, the bigger the wedding, the larger the party and the more colossal the waste. No
doubt weddings and banquets are a huge source of food wastage, but restaurants and
hotels also contribute to food wastage, though the awareness around this has grown in the
last five years. While some restaurants in India employ food controllers to check food
spoilage, others donate it to their staff and other personnel, and smaller standalone
restaurants, donate it to orphanages. Few also reuse non-perishable food.

Why is food wastage a problem?

 25% of fresh water used to produce food is ultimately wasted, even as millions of people still

don’t have access to drinking water. When you calculate the figures in cubic kilometers, this is

a bit more than an average river.

 Even though the world produces enough food to feed twice the world’s present

population, food wastage is ironically behind the billions of people who are malnourished. The

number of hungry people in India has increased by 65 million more than the population of

France. According to a survey by Bhook (an organization working towards reducing hunger) in

2013, 20 crore Indians sleep hungry on any given night. About 7 million children died in 2012

because of hunger/malnutrition.

 Acres of land are deforested to grow food. Approximately 45% of India’s land is degraded

primarily due to deforestation, unsustainable agricultural practices, and excessive groundwater

extraction to meet the food demand.

 300 million barrels of oil are used to produce food that is ultimately wasted.

The Minister of Food Processing Harsimrat Kaur Badal seems to have chalked out a
roadmap. Yes, a map literally, which shows exactly what fruits and vegetables are grown
and where.
She says, “My ministry works as a catalyst. It has the potential for doing a couple of
thingswhich are the need of the hour. Firstly, bring down food wastage. Food is being
wasted at the harvest point and during transportation. If the same food which is wasted can
be processed, it would mean it could either be available in raw form or in bottled form at a
price which is affordable to the aam aadmi.”

Food wastage cripples a country’s economy to an extent that most of us are unaware. Some
measures that the government needs to take include containing wastage in transportation,
improve storage facilities (the cold storage chain is 50% less than required and that too
needs to be brought up to world standards), food processing also needs to be sped up so
food is saved and wasted less to feed more.

While you may not be able to reduce food lost during production, you can certainly reduce
food at your personal level of food waste. Every step taken in the right direction counts.

Here’s what one can do on a more personal level to contain the food wastage:

 Plan out your meal and make your shopping list to determine what you actually need for the

week. About 20% of what we buy in urban India ends up being thrown away. You could in the

week after cut down on the surplus and soon in two or three weeks you will have a precise list

of your family’s weekly consumption. You have no idea how amazed you will be at how much

you buy and what you actually consume. Needless to say that the difference is but naturally

wasted.

 Buy in quantities you can realistically use. Avoid impulse buys. It will more or less find the bin.

 If you cook at home, make sure you cook keeping in mind there is no excess. You can always

complete your meals with a few fruits rather than keep some extra food in the refrigerator.

It’s a lot better and a healthier practice too.

 Select according to their shelf life. Use the green vegetables first. Don’t throw out fruits and

veggies with ‘aesthetic only’ blemishes. Use canned and bottled food before expiry dates.

 Reuse the refrigerated left-overs (if any) for the very next meal.

 Even if food gets spoilt then compost it.

 If you work in an office that has a canteen, check with them on how they manage excess food.

Cooked food, especially since it has a low shelf life needs to be managed better and faster.

Check with NGOs who offer to transport excess food to the needy.

 If you host a family get together either at home, a marriage hall or throw a party at a hotel,

make sure you plan for the food to be transported to a place like an orphanage or an old age
shelter.
 Make finishing your plate a habit. Try to inculcate it further to as many possible.
How You Can Help
Feeding India, which was founded with the object of eliminating hunger, aims to connect
hunger and food waste as solutions for each other. Started in 2014, it now operates in more
than 30 cities across India. It believes in feeding mouths, not bins. They collect the food
waste from individuals, weddings, canteens, and other events and redistribute it to the
needy, free of cost. Anyone can get involved to donate and become a volunteer.

Robin Hood Army, a similar organisation, operates not only in India but also in Pakistan.
Annamrita (formerly ISKCON Food Relief Foundation) provides mid day meals to school
children.

Last but not the least, make sure you don’t waste food (even a morsel).