Every year, 2.5 billion tonnes of food are wasted across the world, according to a study by the World Wildlife Fund and Tesco. That is equivalent to 40% of all food produced for human consumption. Over the course of each year, this all adds up to more than 5.8 trillion wasted meals. What causes us to waste these quantities of food? How can we counteract this development?
Overproduction, processing problems, unstable markets and bad weather are among the main reasons for food loss long before it arrives in a grocery store. Once in the market or already bought, still a lot of food goes to waste – due to overbuying, poor planning and confusion over labels and safety. Restaurants are also responsible for large losses of food. Drivers include inflexibility of chain store management, oversized portions and extensive menu choices. On average, 55 percent of edible leftovers are left at the restaurants.
While industrialized countries in North America, Europe and Asia waste 222 million tons of food each year combined, other countries in sub-Saharan Africa produce 230 million tons of food each year, according to the U.N. Environment Programme. However, there is more than enough food produced in the world to feed everyone on the planet. And still about 829 million people worldwide suffer from hunger. Sustainable food production and consumption is becoming increasingly necessary and possible.
The United Nations state: “Sustainable Consumption and Production is about doing more and better with less.”
Goals include decoupling economic growth from environmental degradation, increasing resource efficiency and promoting sustainable lifestyles. Audits on how best to reduce the environmental impact of food production and cut waste throughout the food supply chain are being carried out by the European Commission. Current technologies and know-how allow immediate progress towards these goals. However, the measures will vary depending on the agricultural sector. One measure is to use natural resources efficiently. It is, for example, possible to reduce fossil fuels, optimise water use, reduce pollution of waterways, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, maintain soils and increase biodiversity. By implementing sustainable fishing, eliminating by-catch and reducing pollution of the sea, marine resources could be protected. Another approach is the production of food ingredients from sustainable sources by developing sustainability schemes. In order to also keep the ecological impact of packaging within a positive framework, efforts are being made to use environmentally efficient food packaging through the optimisation of packaging use and the usage of recycled materials with low environmental impact.
Part of sustainable food production is also ethical production. This includes the consideration of people, the environment and animals. With regard to animal welfare and protection, the World Organisation for Animal Health uses a summary of the Five Freedoms of Animal Welfare as a guiding principle: the freedom from thirst, hunger and malnutrition, the freedom from discomfort and exposure, the freedom from pain, injury and disease, the freedom from fear and distress and the freedom to express normal behaviour. Within these guidelines and with the idea of valuing animals as sentient beings, morally acceptable food production can be ensured.
Environmentally Sustainable Food Consumption is the use of food products that meet the basic needs and create a better quality of life, while reducing emissions of waste and pollutants and the use of toxic materials, natural resources throughout your life. For private consumption, this means, for example, eating more vegetables, beans and nuts or aiming for a balanced variety. Buying food that meets a credible certified standard such as the Fairtrade logo ensures a more ethical production. When eating meat, be careful to moderate consumption. Proteins are also contained in many plant products. As foods high in fat, salt and sugar are treats, not staples, we tend to eat more of them without any health value. It is therefore also important to minimise this consumption.
Many of these methods can have immediate and long-term benefits for people, the economy and the planet. The next overripe banana can be turned into pudding, ice cream, banana bread or a smoothie. Not much is needed to make the world a better place. And your eating habits an old-age provision.