by: Julianne Boulton
Cutting down trees and harmful fumes released from burning fossil fuels are probably some of the first reasons that come to your mind when you think of the causes of environmental loss. Let’s step back for a moment and take a look at the bigger picture. Why are so many trees being cut? Why are there so many large vehicles transporting items between cities and countries? Why are there so many factories constantly producing so much? It’s all in the end to meet our human needs. Food is a fundamental human need. Food production is essential for the survival of humankind, no question. But what are you doing when you waste food that can be eaten? All those resources that were put into the production of food are all wasted! Wasting food doesn’t just keep all those starving children in Africa hungry (that’s still a serious issue but one for another day’s discussion). Food wastage harms the climate, water, land and biodiversity too.
Food wastage is defined by the FAO as the combined effect of food loss and food waste. Food loss occurs during the production and processing of food. Food waste occurs when retailers and consumers intentionally discard food that is suitable for human consumption. Food waste is a direct result of the behaviour of businesses and individuals. Last year (2013) the FAO released a report on the environmental impacts of food wastage, the first of its kind. Here are some of the astonishing facts that the report uncovered:
- Globally 1.6 billion tonnes of food is wasted every year.
- 28 percent of the world’s agricultural land is used to produce the amount of food that is wasted.
- The amount of food wasted annually was valued at $750 billion.
- Of the total food wastage, food loss was more significant in developing countries, while food waste was more significant in middle to high income regions.
Although the report was largely negative, it also said that if households composted their food waste each year up to 150 kg per household can be excluded from landfills. Currently only a low percentage is composted globally, but we can use this as an incentive to try and compost more. Unlike stopping illegal logging and making factories stop releasing tons of greenhouse gases, reducing the amount of food we waste is something that each of us can start doing right from this moment to make our lives sustainable.