The UK throws away 4.5 million tonnes of food ANNUALLY, yet 1.4 million children still live in uncertainty of whether they will receive their next meal.
No one is completely immune to the pressing issue of food insecurity. In fact, 1 in 8 people will go hungry today. How far are you and your family from such a common misfortune - a missed paycheck perhaps?
Food waste does not only contribute to the humanitarian problem of food insecurity, but it also negatively impacts the environment by producing unnecessary carbon emissions that worsen climate change: one of the most pressing issues of our generation. When looking for ways to slow down climate change, food waste must be taken into account.
The 2011 Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) assessment of global food losses and waste estimated that each year, 1/3 of all food produced in the world for human consumption never reach the consumer’s table, meaning that an appalling amount of natural resources used for growing, processing, packaging, transporting and marketing food are wasted as a result.
One might assume that food waste has little impact on climate change when compared to cars or other pollutants. However, a closer look reveals that emissions are produced during all stages of food production, including agricultural production, post-harvest handling and storage, processing, and distribution.
(taken from the FAO Food Wastage Footprint & Climate Change report)
Despite the carbon intensive production process, the most harmful stage of them all is actually the consumption stage.The further along the production chain, the more carbon is wasted. Since consumption is the very last step, it has the highest carbon footprint (37% of total).
The greenhouse gas emissions produced during food production and consumption eventually add up. When we waste food, we also waste all the energy and water it takes to grow, harvest, transport, and package it. Furthermore, if food goes to the landfill and rots, it produces methane—a greenhouse gas even more potent than carbon dioxide. The FAO reported that global food loss and waste generate 4.4 GtCO2 eq annually, or about 8% of total anthropogenic (associated with human activities) greenhouse gas emissions. This means that overall, the contribution of food wastage emissions to global warming is almost equivalent to global road transport emissions.
If we take responsibility for our own food waste, the difference made would be incredible. As of right now, the distribution of carbon emissions by continent is as following:
North America and Oceania release 860 kg CO2 annually
Industrialized Asia: 810 kg CO2,
Europe: 680 kg CO2,
Latin America : 540 kg CO2
North Africa, Western Asia and Central Asia: 350 kg CO2
South and Southeast Asia: 350 kg CO2
Subsaharan Africa: 210 kg CO2
Even though the food wastage carbon footprint of high income countries on climate is more than double that of low income countries due to wasteful food distribution and consumption patterns, we must all re-evaluate our habits regarding food. In fact, change can start within the home with little steps.
Be conscious of how much food you are buying.
Learn how to store food correctly.
Learn to preserve food.
Save leftovers.
When it comes to food waste legislation, the power of the people is undeniable. You don’t need to be a Malala Yousafzai or a Greta Thunberg to change the law. It actually doesn’t take long for you to participate in a change of the law and enable a fund to offset costs of repackaging and transporting of perfectly edible food that would otherwise be destroyed.
Join me in signing the #feedpeoplefirst petition to get it to the strongest position in government. We need to take bold action to make a real difference. Signing the petition would call on the government to offset the costs of food redistribution to food charities, allowing them to save £150m - that could all go to increasing their services and creating the change we would like to see in the world.
Written by: Hemlata Pant
References:
Burns, Judith. “‘Worsening Child Poverty Harms Learning.’”BBC News, 14 Apr. 2019, www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-47902642.
FAO, 2011. Global Food Losses and Food Waste. Extent, Causes and Prevention
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