Food Wastage

Food waste is irrefutably a huge worldwide problem nowadays. Together with food

loss, food waste is challenging the world in its capacity for sustainable development. According

to the 2011 FAO report on assessing global food losses and wastes, one third (approximately

1.3 billion tons) of all the food produced globally for human consumption is lost or wasted

every year and if food waste could be represented as a country, it would be the third greenhouse

gas emitter next to China and the United States.

Food waste refers to the food appropriate for human consumption being discarded,

whether or not after it is kept beyond its expiry date or left to spoil whereas food loss is the

decrease in mass (dry matter) or nutritional value (quality) of food that was originally intended

for human consumption. Altogether, food loss and food waste is encompassed in the term food

wastage, which was defined as any food lost by deterioration or waste. (FAO, 2013).

Food wastage remains as a challenge among civilizations since agriculture was used as

a survival practice. Yet current recognizable evidences of biophysical limitations of our planet

combined with ongoing food insecurity, population growth and pressing environmental

challenges such as climate change and deforestation have brought food wastage to the forefront

of global attention.

The global community exerts a lot of effort to attain sustainable development that led

to the adoption of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals to improve people’s lives

by 2030. Zero hunger, which is one of the top priorities of the program, pledges to end hunger,

achieve food security, improve nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture. (WFP USA,

2019)
 Evidence continues to signal a rise in world hunger. According from 2018 FAO report,

the number of people who suffer from hunger has been growing over the past three years,

returning to levels from a decade ago. The absolute number of people in the world affected by

undernourishment, or chronic food deprivation, is now estimated to have increased from

around 804 million in 2016 to nearly 821 million in 2017. The situation is worsening in South

America and most regions of Africa; likewise, the decreasing trend in undernourishment that

characterized Asia until recently seems to be slowing down significantly. In these premise,

without increased efforts, there is a risk of falling far short of achieving the SDG target of

hunger eradication by 2030.

Amidst the battle of the global community to eradicate hunger emerges another serious

concern regarding the appropriate consumption of the food produced. As previously mentioned

in the 2011 FAO report regarding food wasted globally, one third of the food produced globally

is lost or wasted annually and this accounts for $1 trillion. Hence, reserving this trend would

preserve enough food to feed 2 billion people, which is twice the number of the recorded

number of undernourished people. (WFP USA, 2019)

Food wastage has its environmental impacts that if neglected can be a threat for

survival. According to the 2013 & 2014 FAO’s Food Wastage Footprint, it is estimated that

the global impact of food waste and concluded that annual food produced and not eaten has a

carbon footprint of 3.3 gigatons of CO2 making food waste the third top emitter after the two

countries the United States and China. The blue water footprint (consumption of surface and

groundwater) of food wastage is 250 cubic kilometers (thrice the volume of Lake Geneva), and

food produced and not eaten occupies 1.4 billion hectares of land (30 per cent of the world’s

agricultural land area) (FAO 2013).

 FAO also conducted a full-cost accounting of the food wastage footprint and found that

in addition to the $1 trillion of economic costs per year, environmental costs reach around $700

billion, and social costs reach around $900 billion. The cost of the food wastage carbon

footprint in particular, based on the social cost of carbon, is estimated to reach $394 billion in

damages per year (FAO 2014).

Failure to notice this crisis will lead to fatality and it is necessary for the world to

determine the possible causes of food wastage to establish a concrete and effective solution to

prevent its fatal effects. The FAO in the 2013 Food Wastage Footprint Report identified

possible ways where food is wasted and here as follows:

 Fresh produce that deviates from what is considered optimal in terms of shape,

size and color, for example is often removed from the supply chain during

sorting operations.

 Foods that are close to, at or beyond the “best-before” date are often discarded

by retailers and consumers.

 Large quantities of wholesome edible food are often unused or left over and

discarded from household kitchens and eating establishments.

Rooted from this evidences, the world has identified tools and methods to combat food

wastage including various lifestyle practices and technologies.

Heller, M. in the 2019 United Nations Environment Program Report suggests the

practice of life cycle thinking. Life cycle thinking is a holistic way of approaching the

environmental, social and economic effects of our actions when we design, purchase and use

products and services. These impacts occur at all stages of a product’s life cycle: raw material

extraction, processing and manufacturing, distribution, consumption and waste management.

Consideration of this full life cycle perspective can be helpful in avoiding unintended
consequences, re-evaluating “conventional wisdom”, choosing between products and

prioritizing competing programs. Life cycle thinking encourages us to consider the problem

of food loss and waste across the full food value chain – through the full life cycle of food. It

reminds us that while concern for food waste disposal is warranted, the majority of the impacts

or “costs” of food loss and waste, whether environmental, social or economic, occur much

earlier during food production, processing and distribution. This encourages focus on the top

tier of the food recovery hierarchy: source reduction.

An article published in the conserve-energy-future.com mentions the following as

solutions to reduce food waste:

1. balancing food production with demand;

2. bettering food harvesting storage, processing and distribution processes;

3. food waste reduction initiatives;

4. planning food consumption;

5. food recycling; and

6. foodprint campaigns.

On August 3, 2018, the World Wildlife Fund Philippines launched the Sustainable

Diner project aiming to educate Filipinos of ways in reducing food waste. The project was a

part of the International Climate Initiative and launched as a part of the United Nations

Environment Program’s Waste Not, Want Not Project aiming to achieve the sustainable

development goals.

In relation to food wastage reduction and hunger eradication, agencies offer services

such as foodbanks that collects near best-before-dates products and distribute it to marginalized

people in their respective communities. In that way, they help reducing food waste while

keeping their communities food secured and away from undernourishment.

 Food waste management is indeed a serious challenge among us. Evidences revealed

the discrepancies in our daily practices in managing and consumption of our resources and

from our wrong practices, food wastage and other crises have cropped up. It takes a lot of effort

in order to reduce food waste and to attain sustainable development. However, if all of us will

take part in this battle, it is not impossible for us to reduce food waste and to achieve zero

hunger, leading our success to attain sustainable development.

References:

Heller, M. (2019). “Waste Not, Want Not: Reducing Food Loss and Waste in North
America through Life Cycle-Based Approaches”. United Nations Environment Programme,
North America Office. Washington, DC, USA.

Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (2018). “The State of Food
Security and Nutrition in the World: Building Climate Resilience for Food Security and
Nutrition”. www.fao.org –last retrieved July 3, 2019

Food and Agricultural Organization of the United (2013). “Food Wastage Footprint:
Impacts on Natural Resources Summary Report”. www.fao.org –last retrieved July 3, 2019

World Food Program USA (2019). “8 Facts to Know about Food Waste and Hunger”.
www.wfpusa.org –last retrieved July 3, 2019

World Wildlife Fund Philippines (2018). “The Sustainable Diner’s 9-Step Restaurant
Guide”. www.wwf.org.ph –last retrieved July 3, 2019

Conserve Energy Future (2018). “Causes, Effects and Solutions of Food Waste”.
www.conserve-energy-future.com –last retrieved July 3, 2019
DON MARIANO MARCOS MEMORIAL STATE UNIVERSITY
SOUTH LA UNION CAMPUS
COLLEGE OF GRADUATE STUDIES
Agoo, La Union

Article Review
on
Food Wastage

Prepared by:

RENZ C. FERRER
MASE

July 6, 2019