Food Loss & Waste Awareness day
Food waste… let’s start with some facts. Around ⅓ of food produced is wasted every year.
This has a big impact on the environment, as food waste is the third largest contributor of greenhouse gas emissions, amounting to 8-10% of emissions globally. For instance, when you throw away a burger, you’re not just wasting food - you’re also wasting all the resources that went into producing it, like water, energy, and more.
However, waste is not equally distributed around the world. In developing countries food waste occurs largely during the production and processing phase of the food system. Lack of resources, technologies, and farmers’ training are the main cause of food loss at these stages.
On the other hand, food waste in developed countries mainly happens during the consumption stage. This means leftovers in a house, at restaurants, or cafeterias. The factors affecting this type of waste are income, culture, and, particularly, consumer behavior.
The Netherlands, for instance, produced about 2,2 billion kg of food waste per year, and its biggest share comes from consumers. There’s many reasons for this. For instance, people with a higher income are not affected by the financial loss of their food waste. Furthermore, people can buy and prepare too much food, forget leftovers, store products incorrectly, and the list goes on. Another interesting fact is that, although the younger generations are those most concerned about climate change, they waste 3 times as much as the 55+.
Changing our habits can be tough, but it all starts with awareness and concern regarding the issue of food waste. Once we have that covered and grasp the impact that we can have on both the environment and economy, we can identify simple daily actions to adopt.
Here’s a few!
Check your fridge before going grocery shopping - you might realize you need to buy less than you thought
Make a shopping list - this can save up to 11 kg in waste per person per year
Don’t remove products such as fruits and vegetables from the store’s boxes and packaging - it will help preserve them for longer
Measure food portions when cooking - the main reason people waste food is that they prepared too much. Cooking the right amount can really have an impact
Use older items first, reducing the chances of food spoiling
Use creativity! If you have very little leftovers, repurpose it into new meal ideas instead of throwing them away
Understand expiration dates: "Best-before" dates often indicate quality, not safety - use your judgment to determine if food is still good
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