1086. Food Loss and Waste

Food loss occurs along the food supply chain, whereas food waste refers to what retailers and consumers throw away. The problem of food loss and waste is not only not going away, it is getting worse. Curbing food loss and waste will not only solve the food system crises we face today, such as natural resource depletion, climate change, and food security risks, but will also help us avoid the additional environmental burdens associated with future food production.

Nature Food presents a discussion of the root causes, impacts, and solutions to the problem of loss and waste in the food system.

In a world where 29% of the world's population is moderately or severely food insecure, it is difficult to accept the fact that food loss and waste amounts to about one-third (1.3 billion tons) of total food production. In 2022, 13% of all food produced was lost, and a further 19% of the food available to consumers was wasted in the retail, foodservice, and household sectors. Fruits and vegetables had the highest rates of food loss and waste (45%), followed by seafood (35%), cereals (30%), dairy products (20%), and meat and poultry (20%).

We are past the halfway point in implementing Agenda 2030, but achieving Sustainable Development Goal 12, Target 12.3 (halving global per capita food waste at the retail and consumer levels and reducing food loss in the production and supply chains, including post-harvest losses) is still challenging. Food loss is large in developing countries and tends to occur in the early stages of the food supply chain due to restrictions on harvesting, storage, and transportation. In terms of food waste, there has been a global convergence trend in terms of the average amount of household food waste per capita over the past few years (in high-income, upper-middle-income, and low-middle-income countries, the average level of household food waste differs by only 7 kg per person per year).

What is holding back from solving food loss and waste is the problem of data. Food loss data is particularly difficult to collect in poorer countries where farms are dispersed and reporting and monitoring tools are challenged. Differences in the definitions of "edible" and "non-edible" crops, or between crops that can be diverted to non-edible, pose additional challenges. A similar problem occurs with food waste. According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), which is responsible for the Food Waste Index, few countries have estimates to track progress on the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which is a barrier to assessing the effectiveness of interventions.

More investment is needed to develop technologies that increase resource use efficiency and avoid food loss and waste. Creative solutions such as upcycling food (taking what you have and remaking it into something else to add value), processing it into new materials, and food waste prevention apps have the potential to drive a paradigm shift. A more serious problem is that food markets, in which food waste is profitable, and food prices that do not reflect social and environmental costs, encourage inefficiencies and increase inequality.

Producers, consumers, companies, and governments must work together to achieve a fundamental solution. About 60% of the world's food waste in 2022 came from the household sector, followed by foodservice and retail. Along with international cooperation between countries and supply chains, it needs to be addressed at both the individual and system levels. When designing solutions, the existence of significant regional differences should also be taken into account, as well as disparities between income groups and between urban and rural areas within the same country.

Reference
Food loss and waste. Nat Food 5, 639 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-024-01041-7

Contributor: IIYAMA Miyuki, Information Program