PREVENT FOOD WASTE

- Globally, one trillion dollars’ worth of food goes to waste every year.
- If wasted food were a country, it would be the third-largest producer of carbon dioxide in the
world after the United States and China.
- Rich countries waste as much food as sub-Saharan Africa produces.
- The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) says that if we stopped wasting all that food,
we’d save enough to feed 2 billion people.
- If we stopped wasting food, we could cut global emissions by 8-11 percent and reduce
biodiversity.

The food we waste still has nutrition, energy, and value. It can provide a benefit, whether that be
through composting or even creating biogas for renewable energy. However, when we incinerate food
waste, we end the food cycle where it is. That food waste provides no benefit—or, rather, it provides a
negative benefit, as that waste becomes carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.

Even without incineration, food waste is harmful to the environment. As it sits in a landfill, rotting away,
it emits methane, a greenhouse gas 28-34 times more potent than carbon dioxide and one of the largest
contributors to climate change.

How does food waste recycled?

1. In-vessel composting

mixing food waste with garden waste – shredding it and then composting it in an enclosed system for
around 2-4 weeks at temperatures of up to 70°C.

The material is then left outside to mature for a further 1-3 months with regular turning and quality
checks before going on to be used as a soil conditioner.

2. Anaerobic Digestion

uses microorganisms (methanogens) to break down food waste and convert it into biogas (generating
electricity, heat, and transportation in a more sustainable way)

3. Composting, such as worm composting.

Tutorial of how to compost: https://youtu.be/QnZ3LSsQkSw?feature=shared

What makes food waste being a carbon dioxide emission?

- Farmers that couldn’t reach their production goals and their produced foods rotted.
- Consumers letting go of their food waste on landfills.
- Goes to waste at the production stage.
- Food can go bad when it is being transported.
 - Grocery stores often throw out food they can’t or don’t sell.
- Wastes water, which is the main of all energies.
- Increases fossil fuels

What can we do?

- Supporting local farmers

- Making sustainable food choices
- Being involved in social media or local communities
- Educating consumers about food waste
- Sorting out food waste with organic and anorganic trash bins.
- Keep the temperature at 40 degrees Fahrenheit or below to keep foods safe. The temperature of
your freezer should be zero degrees Fahrenheit.
- Use your freezer to keep food longer.
- If you have more food than you can eat, donate it or hand it off to a neighbor or friend.
- In-vessel composting and Anaerobic Digestion
- Dehydrate the food and store it in moisture-proof storage containers.
- Reused as animal feed
- Be creative with leftovers.
- Offer professionals to compose the food waste as an alternative if you couldn’t compose.
- Ensure food gets to the people that need it the most efficiently.
- Increase the production of agricultural resources (most needed to prevent hunger)
- Making biogas from food waste -> STEM application

How to make biogas: Prepare a digester.

Kinds of digesters:

A digester tank — it’s a sealed container where the anaerobic digestion takes place.

A feeding system (inlet) — it’s an inlet pipe or opening that allows you to introduce organic waste into
the digester.

A stirring system — you can opt for gas recirculation or get a mechanical or hydraulic mixer. It prevents
the formation of floating layers and accelerates the fermentation process.

A gas collection system — it’s typically a gas outlet pipe connected to the digester and transports the
biogas to a storage unit or the end-user device.

Ventilation — you’ll need an exhaust pipe or vent to prevent the accumulation of potentially harmful
gases like hydrogen sulfide inside the digester.

Temperature control — depending on your location, you may need heating elements to maintain an
optimal temperature for bacteria to thrive inside the digester.

Instruments for monitoring — think gas flow meters, pressure gauges, temperature sensors, pH meters,
and gas composition analyzers.
Other solutions:

- Boost social protection programs, especially for the most vulnerable

- Switch to Climate Smart Agriculture

Food Hunger Organizations:

A. United Nations World Food Programme (WFP)

Actions:

1. Food Storage: Small-scale farmers can lose up to half of their harvest because they don’t have
access to modern storage equipment. We provide them with silos and air-tight bags to cut their post-
harvest losses from 40 to 2 percent.

2. Nonperishables: Our typical food ration includes long-lasting staples like flour, dried beans, salt
and cooking oil – all packaged in sturdy containers. These are all long-lasting foods so nothing spoils or
gets thrown away.

3. Innovation: From hydroponics to virtual farmers markets, we’re helping communities find new
ways to grow, sell and store food despite challenging environments.

4. Policy: The U.S. Farm Bill authorizes distributing excess American-grown crops like rice, corn,
wheat, and soybeans to hungry people. It’s just one of the many policies we work on to end hunger.

B. Food and Agriculture Organization

C. Action Against Hunger

D. The Hunger Project

Image sources:

DATA: