Sunday 24 November 2013

Further on Food Waste

Following my last post on food waste, here is a piece I found by Todd Reubold:
'What if someone came to your house and threw every third meal – breakfast, lunch or dinner – in the trash before you had a chance to take a bite? You’d probably be pretty upset. Yet every day around the world that’s essentially what we’re doing. We’re throwing away nearly one-third of the food produced globally for human consumption.'


(Source: http://ensia.com/infographics/the-rotten-world-of-food-waste/)


 Reubold graphically represents how much of our food is being wasted by product and by geographical location, showing some dramatic differences in food waste in between sub-Saharan Africa, Europe and North America. Per capita food waste in Europe and North-America is more than 12 times bigger than in sub-Saharan Africa!
(Source: http://ensia.com/infographics/the-rotten-world-of-food-waste/)

 In terms of solutions, the author suggest an improved management of production in developing countries and better communication between stakeholders in developed countries. In addition, raising awareness about the environmental and economic impacts of food waste is essential.Go have a look at the full infographic here: http://ensia.com/infographics/the-rotten-world-of-food-waste/ (and click on the pictures to see them more clearly!). Quite worrying right?

 I leave you with truly inspiring and surprising TED video by Paul Sellew, 'the king of compost', emphasising on the problems that food waste brings to our world today (truly worth watching!). Composting can be a real engine for renewable energy and organic fertiliser in today's world, while being economically beneficial. It just needs cooperation of all stakeholders!


Till next time,
Laura
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Location: London, UK

4 comments:

  1. Bertha Shum25 November 2013 at 08:15

    I reckon people tend to waste more when they have greater access to food compared to other countries - say poorer countries. But the percentage shows that the situation of wasting food happens everywhere and quite seriously! In my home country, there are now campaigns on not to waste food and I just hope all the other countries do so!

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  2. Unknown25 November 2013 at 09:12

    Hey Bertha! Yes, it seems that there is more food wasted in countries where food is 'abundant' (always relative and I don't want to make any assumptions about individual access to food). This is particularly true on the consumption side. But it is important to realise that most of the waste that happens in poorer countries comed from the production side! It's crazy to think how many more people we could feed with these calories that are simply going into trash or don't even reach consumption.

    What I realised when comparing my home country to the UK in terms of food waste on the consumption level is that food produce tends to 'go off' much faster here in UK. I wonder why that is? And I agree, every country should make the effort to cut down on their food waste!

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  3. Unknown26 November 2013 at 11:30

    These statistics are really shocking! But in some ways I'm not that surprised... I was brought up to try my best to not waste, but living in London I find myself surrounded by it. I cringe when my flatmates throw out perfectly good food (most of which I'd rescue if it weren't for allergies).

    I think the supermarkets are partly at fault, though; here, back home, and everywhere else. 'Best before dates' are incredibly misleading, and sometimes completely unnecessary. Why would cheese need a best-by date?

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    Replies
    1. Unknown26 November 2013 at 15:20

      Hey Samantha! Thanks for the comment, I'm happy you can relate to what the statistics are saying! And true, I never follow the best-by dates, they are useless. I rely on my senses, the best-by date gets it always wrong!

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