Almost half of the world's food thrown away, report finds - The Guardian
As much as half of all the food produced in the world – equivalent to 2bn tonnes – ends up as waste every year, engineers warned in a report published on Thursday.
The UK's Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) blames the "staggering" new figures in its analysis on unnecessarily strict sell-by dates, buy-one-get-one free and Western consumer demand for cosmetically perfect food, along with "poor engineering and agricultural practices", inadequate infrastructure and poor storage facilities.
In the face of United Nations predictions that there could be about an extra 3 billion people to feed by the end of the century and growing pressure on the resources needed to produce food, including land, water and energy, the IMechE is calling for urgent action to tackle this waste.
Their report, Global Food; Waste Not, Want Not, found that between 30% and 50% or 1.2-2bn tonnes of food produced around the world never makes it on to a plate.
In the UK as much as 30% of vegetable crops are not harvested due to their failure to meet retailers' exacting standards on physical appearance, it says, while up to half of the food that is bought in Europe and the US is thrown away by consumers.
And about 550bn cubic metres of water is wasted globally in growing crops that never reach the consumer. Carnivorous diets add extra pressure as it takes 20-50 times the amount of water to produce 1 kilogramme of meat than 1kg of vegetables; the demand for water in food production could reach 10–13 trillion cubic metres a year by 2050.
This is 2.5 to 3.5 times greater than the total human use of fresh water today and could lead to more dangerous water shortages around the world, the IMechE says, claiming that there is the potential to provide 60-100% more food by eliminating losses and waste while at the same time freeing up land, energy and water resources.
Tim Fox, head of energy and environment at the IMechE, said: "The amount of food wasted and lost around the world is staggering. This is food that could be used to feed the world's growing population – as well as those in hunger today. It is also an unnecessary waste of the land, water and energy resources that were used in the production, processing and distribution of this food."
In order to prevent further waste, governments, development agencies and organisation like the UN "must work together to help change people's mindsets on waste and discourage wasteful practices by farmers, food producers, supermarkets and consumers," the IMechE said.
The UK's Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) blames the "staggering" new figures in its analysis on unnecessarily strict sell-by dates, buy-one-get-one free and Western consumer demand for cosmetically perfect food, along with "poor engineering and agricultural practices", inadequate infrastructure and poor storage facilities.
In the face of United Nations predictions that there could be about an extra 3 billion people to feed by the end of the century and growing pressure on the resources needed to produce food, including land, water and energy, the IMechE is calling for urgent action to tackle this waste.
Their report, Global Food; Waste Not, Want Not, found that between 30% and 50% or 1.2-2bn tonnes of food produced around the world never makes it on to a plate.
In the UK as much as 30% of vegetable crops are not harvested due to their failure to meet retailers' exacting standards on physical appearance, it says, while up to half of the food that is bought in Europe and the US is thrown away by consumers.
And about 550bn cubic metres of water is wasted globally in growing crops that never reach the consumer. Carnivorous diets add extra pressure as it takes 20-50 times the amount of water to produce 1 kilogramme of meat than 1kg of vegetables; the demand for water in food production could reach 10–13 trillion cubic metres a year by 2050.
This is 2.5 to 3.5 times greater than the total human use of fresh water today and could lead to more dangerous water shortages around the world, the IMechE says, claiming that there is the potential to provide 60-100% more food by eliminating losses and waste while at the same time freeing up land, energy and water resources.
Tim Fox, head of energy and environment at the IMechE, said: "The amount of food wasted and lost around the world is staggering. This is food that could be used to feed the world's growing population – as well as those in hunger today. It is also an unnecessary waste of the land, water and energy resources that were used in the production, processing and distribution of this food."
In order to prevent further waste, governments, development agencies and organisation like the UN "must work together to help change people's mindsets on waste and discourage wasteful practices by farmers, food producers, supermarkets and consumers," the IMechE said.
I found this article really interesting and eye opening. I didn't realise that between 30% - 50% of food doesn't even reach our plates! I also didn't realise how petty we are with the appearance of veg. There is definitely room for a piece of interesting graphics to catch peoples attention.
Food waste: what does the latest report tell us? - The Guardian
4.2m tonnes of avoidable food and drink waste was thrown away by UK households last year - worth £12.5bn - according to the latest report by the Waste & Resources Action Programme (Wrap).
The annual report by the government's waste advisory body provides estimates of the amount of food and drink wasted in the UK, with detailed data on the types of food and drink wasted, reasons for disposal and the impact on the environment. Rebecca Smithers writes today:
The average UK family is wasting nearly £60 a month by throwing away almost an entire meal a day, according to a new report that reveals the scale of the ongoing challenge to reduce household food waste.
Britons are chucking out the equivalent of 24 meals a month, adding up to 4.2 million tonnes of food and drink every year that could have been consumed. Almost half of this is going straight from fridges or cupboards into the bin. One-fifth of what households buy ends up as waste, and around 60% of that could have been eaten.
In the past we've discussed the merits and downfalls of trying to estimate the amount of food waste produced across the country. The Wrap report however is significant as its findings are employed in advising the government. So how does Wrap go about finding out these numbers?
According to the report the research, funded by UK Governments, is based on three sources:
• Detailed measurement of the weight and types of food and drink waste from approximately 1,800 consenting households
• A week-long food and drink diary involving 950 households
• A synthesis of waste data from more than 80 local authorities
So to break the 135-page report into bite-sized chunks, we've drawn out some of key findings from the report:
7m tonnes of food and drink was thrown away last year - 4.2m tonnes of this was avoidable
In 2012, 7m tonnes of food and drink was thrown away from our homes, which according to the report is enough to fill Wembley Stadium nine times over. However, 4.2m tonnes of this was classed as 'avoidable', 1.2m tonnes was considered 'possibly avoidable' and 1.6m tonnes was declared as 'unavoidable' (banana skins, tea waste, poultry bones etc).
In 2007 the amount of avoidable waste totalled 5.3m tonnes, meaning it made up 64% the total food and drink waste compared with 60% in 2012.
Two thirds of household food and drink waste is collected by local authorities
4.7m tonnes of household food and drink waste was collected by local authorities (LA) in 2012. Another 1.6m tonnes was disposed of via the sewer (kitchen sink and other drains) whilst 0.51m tonnes made it onto the compost heap and 0.28m tonnes was fed to animals.
In 2012, 7m tonnes of food and drink was thrown away from our homes, which according to the report is enough to fill Wembley Stadium nine times over. However, 4.2m tonnes of this was classed as 'avoidable', 1.2m tonnes was considered 'possibly avoidable' and 1.6m tonnes was declared as 'unavoidable' (banana skins, tea waste, poultry bones etc).
In 2007 the amount of avoidable waste totalled 5.3m tonnes, meaning it made up 64% the total food and drink waste compared with 60% in 2012.
Two thirds of household food and drink waste is collected by local authorities
4.7m tonnes of household food and drink waste was collected by local authorities (LA) in 2012. Another 1.6m tonnes was disposed of via the sewer (kitchen sink and other drains) whilst 0.51m tonnes made it onto the compost heap and 0.28m tonnes was fed to animals.
You're most likely to have thrown away bread, potatoes or milk
Bread, potatoes and milk were the top three food types thrown away within the avoidable food waste category (by weight). If you look at it by food groups though, fresh vegetables and salads are at the top (contributing to 19% of avoidable food waste). And if you're to look at it by cost, meat and fish tops the list followed by home-made and pre-prepared meals.
The average household wasted £60 per month last year on throwing away food and drink
According to Wrap, the cost of avoidable food and drink waste to the average household last year was around £9 per week or £470 per year. But an average household with children is reported in the publication as wasting £700 per year.
The UK average cost of avoidable food and drink waste per person was £200 in 2012 - one-person households recorded a significantly higher average at £290.
How bad is food and drink waste for the environment?The greenhouse gas emissions associated with avoidable food and drink waste in the UK accounted for around 17m tonnes of CO2 equivalent. According to Wrap, if all avoidable food waste in 2012 had been prevented then the UK would have made a carbon saving that would be the equivalent to taking one in four cars off the road.
But what about producing the food we throw away?
Bread, potatoes and milk were the top three food types thrown away within the avoidable food waste category (by weight). If you look at it by food groups though, fresh vegetables and salads are at the top (contributing to 19% of avoidable food waste). And if you're to look at it by cost, meat and fish tops the list followed by home-made and pre-prepared meals.
The average household wasted £60 per month last year on throwing away food and drink
According to Wrap, the cost of avoidable food and drink waste to the average household last year was around £9 per week or £470 per year. But an average household with children is reported in the publication as wasting £700 per year.
The UK average cost of avoidable food and drink waste per person was £200 in 2012 - one-person households recorded a significantly higher average at £290.
How bad is food and drink waste for the environment?The greenhouse gas emissions associated with avoidable food and drink waste in the UK accounted for around 17m tonnes of CO2 equivalent. According to Wrap, if all avoidable food waste in 2012 had been prevented then the UK would have made a carbon saving that would be the equivalent to taking one in four cars off the road.
But what about producing the food we throw away?
Well, for the first time Wrap have estimated how much land is required to produce food and drink that is thrown away in the UK. They state that 19,000 square kilometres or an area about 91% the size of Wales is required.
£5.6bn worth of avoidable food and drink waste in 2012 was due to 'not being used in time'
Just under half of all avoidable food and drink waste was attributed to not being used on time (this includes items being thrown away because they had gone off or passed the date on the packaging). 31% of avoidable waste was due to 'cooked, prepared or served too much' whilst the remainder of avoidable food and drink waste is attributed to health reasons, personal preferences and accidents.
£5.6bn worth of avoidable food and drink waste in 2012 was due to 'not being used in time'
Just under half of all avoidable food and drink waste was attributed to not being used on time (this includes items being thrown away because they had gone off or passed the date on the packaging). 31% of avoidable waste was due to 'cooked, prepared or served too much' whilst the remainder of avoidable food and drink waste is attributed to health reasons, personal preferences and accidents.
This article has highlighted some key statistics which really highlight how bad the situation is. If the money that a person wastes on chucking out food was known then I think it would really make people think more before buying or throwing food.
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It seems that there are a few areas which cause food waste. I will target these areas through a poster campaign:
• Confusion with Use By Dates
People are chucking food on the Sell By Date as well as seeing the use by date as a strict date. When actually most veg is okay to use after the date, you can normally tell by looking at it.
• By One Get On Free
People get pulled into BOGOF deals when they don't actually end up using the second one which they paid that little bit more for, just to chuck it in the bin. Everyone loves a good deal or offer but how many do we actually use.
• Cosmetically Perfect Veg
I had no idea of the extent to which people didn't eat 'odd' shaped veg. This is a huge issue and contributing factor into why so much food is thrown.
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