When we think about the problems in the world, we think of oil spills, car pollution, water contamination, and almost anything but food waste. This is a huge problem that often goes unnoticed as everyday people take the food we eat for granted, without understanding the process and journey the food goes through before getting on our plates. In fact, in the US, over 40% of the food that’s produced never gets eaten—that’s over 365 million pounds of food each day. Worldwide, one-third of food produced is thrown away uneaten and according to the United Nations, all the food produced but never eaten would be sufficient to feed two billion people! While that’s happening, about 782 million people in the world don’t even have a steady supply of food at their tables.
Most discarded foods often end up in landfills and decomposing that food waste creates methane, a greenhouse gas 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide, contributing significantly to global warming. If global food waste were a country, it would be the third-largest emitter of greenhouse gasses, after the US and China. In addition to that,
Roughly 1.3 billion metric tons of food go to waste each year, resulting in a staggering financial loss of $1 trillion (USD) annually.
Food waste happens at basically every stage of the food value change, spanning from the farm through distribution, retail, and ultimately to the consumer.
In developing countries, food waste occurs mainly at the production and post-harvest stages due to inadequate infrastructure and technology, whereas in developed countries, consumer-level waste is more significant.
