Food waste is an issue that contributes to global warming, discrepancies in the food system and hurt your pockets! Here are the basics of food loss and its consequences.
Food Loss: refers to food lost in the early stages of production (harvest, storage or transport of food).
Food Waste: refers to food fit for human consumption discarded by groceries or consumers.
*we waste 1/3 of total food*
This contributes to 1.6 billion tonnes of all food
- 1.3 billion tonnes of edible food.
- 3.3 billion tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions.
- 14 billion hectares of land (25% of the world’s agricultural area) – this is approximately the area of Russia
- Water wastage equivalent to the annual flow of Russia’s Volga River (x3 area of Lake Geneva), approximately 250 km cubed.
2.6 trillion USD lost annually to food loss. (That’s 12 0’s!)
What can we do?
Individually:
- Plan ahead:
- Check produce in your fridge, freezer and pantry.
- Prioritize food with low shelf lives, stock up on frozen produce to avoid perishing use.
- Use the First In, First Out method
- Fresh produce:
- Store herbs in oil.
- Store mint in ice cubes for teas.
- Store homemade jams in ice cubes for single servings during breakfast.
- Store fruits and veggies that produce high ethylene in low humidity.
- Store fruits and veggies that produce low ethylene in humidity humidity.
- Freeze veggies close to wilting.
- Use produce:
- Use overripe produce in baked goods, smoothies, grilled dishes, etc.
- Use every edible part of produce (ex. most inedible veggie parts can be saved for stocks and fruit peels can be used in smoothies or in infusions).
Organizations to Support:
Nutrition Diversified 