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| Fig. 1: A typical example of of food waste. (Source: Wikimedia Commons) |
Food, which includes macronutrients and micronutrients, provides the nutrients for us humans to survive and reproduce. However, not all of us have access to this necessity. This has a direct link to the inefficient distribution of food across the globe, especially in The United States and the food wasted throughout the world.
Food waste accounts for about 1/3 of the food produced globally. [1] Food waste is any food that is lost during the four stages of the food supply chain: (1) growers, (2) processors, (3) retailers, and (4) consumers. When estimating food loss, one must look at agricultural production, post-harvest handling and storage, processing and packaging, distribution, and finally consumption. Contrary to popular belief, food waste isnt exclusively caused by the consumer. [2] It occurs all through the cultivation and creation of foods. This may be due to problems in harvesting, storage, packing, transport, infrastructure or market / price mechanisms, as well as institutional and legal frameworks. Food redirected to non-food chains should count as food waste. In developing countries 40% of food losses occur at post-harvest and processing levels. In industrialized countries more than 40% of losses occur at the retail and consumer levels. [2]
Food Waste contributes to excess consumption of freshwater and fossil fuels. This leads to the production of CO2 and methane. [2] When food waste decomposes in a landfill, it generates methane, a potent greenhouse gas with 21 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide. Landfills are also responsible for 1/3 of all methane emissions in the United States. Although methane stays in the atmosphere a shorter time than carbon dioxide it traps radiation more efficiently.[2] Keeping food waste out of landfills will result in reduced methane emissions. [2]
Let's consider specifically the United States. Each time food is wasted all the resources that went into producing, processing, packaging, and transporting that food is wasted too. This means huge amounts of chemicals, energy, fertilizer, and land. 25% of all freshwater in the U.S. is used to produce food that is wasted. In 2010 alone, the FWRA estimates that around 60 million tons of food waste was generated in the U.S., of which nearly 40 million tons went to landfill. This affects the environment drastically. It was found that US per capita food waste has progressively increased by ~50% since 1974 - reaching more than 1400 kcal per person per day or 150 trillion kcal per year. Food waste consumes ~300 million barrels of oil per year unnecessarily. [2] This will create a huge problem for the environment if it continues.
Food waste is a global issue that is affecting the environment in a detrimental way. It is consuming energy, land and water needlessly and perpetuating lack of resources for the food systems globally. [3] To counter this trend, there should be more research regarding where the food waste occurs and a more robust education for consumers and producers. This will help them match supply and demand at a more sustainable way.
© McDavis Ansere. The author warrants that the work is the author's own and that Stanford University provided no input other than typesetting and referencing guidelines. The author grants permission to copy, distribute and display this work in unaltered form, with attribution to the author, for noncommercial purposes only. All other rights, including commercial rights, are reserved to the author.
[1] C. Mena, B. Adenso-Diaz, and O. Yurt , "The Causes of Food Waste in the Supplier-Retailer Interface: Evidences From the UK and Spain," Resour. Conserv. Recy. 55, 648 (2011).
[2] K. D. Hall et al., "The Progressive Increase of Food Waste in America and Its Environmental Impact," PloS One 4, e7940 (2009).
[3] K. L. Thyberg and D. J. Tonjes, "Drivers of Food Waste and Their Implications For Sustainable Policy Development," Resour. Conserv. Recy. 106, 110 (2016).
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