Despite the global food security crisis, roughly one-third of produced food ends up becoming food waste each year. These food wastes have been detrimentally affecting the environment.
Food Waste
Food waste generally encompasses food that humans were meant to consume but ends up being wasted and lost. It may occur at any point in the entire supply chain.
There are actually two kinds of food waste. Firstly, there is food wastage, which covers food that is perfectly fit for humans to consume but ends up getting discarded due to other reasons.
The second one is food loss, which covers food that is lost during the early production phases.
Food Waste Harms the Environment
Resources used for food production are also wasted when food is disposed of. These resources could include water and energy, among others.
Food wastes account for one-third of all greenhouse gas emissions caused by humans. It also leads to 8% of annual greenhouse gas generation.
If this waste food enters landfills and rots, methane gets released from it. This greenhouse gas is stronger compared to CO2.
Environmental Toll of Food Waste
A Climate Change Contributor
As mentioned earlier, food waste is a major climate change contributor. Methane released by rotten food could trap solar heat and linger for up to 12 years.
If people decide to stop throwing food away, up to 17 metric tons of carbon dioxide could be saved. This could be equivalent to five cars off the UK's roads.
Wasting Natural Resources
The three major resources that are wasted alongside food waste are water, fuel, and energy.
In all phases of the food production process, water is a necessity. It is also important for every food type produced.
The agriculture industry globally accounts for 70% of used water. Water is used for crop irrigation and spraying, as well as fish, poultry, and cattle rearing. Hence, fresh water is also wasted by wasting food.
Foods like vegetables and fruit are also heavily laden with water and necessitate huge amounts for growth. On top of this, various plant types require various amounts of water for growth. Animals also need large amounts of water for their feeding and growth.
It is also estimated that throwing away one kilogram of beef is actually equivalent to throwing away 50,000 liters of water. Not drinking a single glass of milk is equivalent to almost 1,000 liters of wasted water.
If food transportation is further taken into account, massive amounts of diesel, oil, and fossil fuels are also consumed and put to waste.
On top of these detrimental effects, food waste can also harm biodiversity and land.
Global Efforts Against Food Waste
Similar to every other environmental issue, global effort is necessary to tackle this pressing problem. Commercial businesses, individual consumers, farmers, NGOs, governments, and the private sector all need to collaborate to address the issue.
Methods to combat the matter may include methods of food collection that align with redistribution, consumer re-education broadening, waste treatment infrastructure investments, waste diversion systems, and further research on food reusing and recycling.
Rather than turning produced food into food waste, this food should be recycled.
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