Did you know that approximately one-third of the food produced globally for human consumption is either lost or wasted? It’s a huge problem, especially when talking about the sustainability of our food system and food scarcity issues. Surprisingly though, most of the world’s wasted food comes from households.
In just 2022, households were responsible for 631 million metric tons of wasted food. That amounts to 60% of total food waste, just from individuals! It’s estimated that the amount of edible food wasted by households alone could provide at least 1 meal every day for everyone in the world who is impacted by hunger.
Clearly, this isn’t sustainable. The idea of food going to waste is disheartening, especially when faced with data that shows how much we could be giving those who need it. We, therefore, desperately need to fix this issue. So, let’s dive into the nuance and logistics of food waste.
What is food waste?
Simply put, food waste is food that isn’t used for its intended purpose, despite still being usable. It’s discarded or recycled food that ultimately wasn’t consumed. Examples of food waste include unsold food from stores, unfinished leftovers, spoiled food, or things considered inedible like peels or rinds.
Food loss is a type of food waste, but this waste happens before reaching consumers. Food loss tends to occur at the manufacturing, processing, and transportation stages of food production. Food waste also includes by-products from food and beverage processing facilities or restaurants, but for this article, we’ll be focused solely on household food waste.
Why does food get wasted?
At the household level, food is wasted because expiration dates are misunderstood, food isn’t stored properly, too much kitchen waste is generated, or leftovers go uneaten. Overall, studies show the greatest reasons food waste is created are thanks to food spoilage and expiration. The second highest cause is due to improper handling and storage and the third is poor meal planning.
Food waste is directly related to consumer preferences, habits, knowledge, and income. Socio-cultural norms and value-based assessments are also at play in influencing the quantities of food waste.
Once food is discarded, it’s managed through donating, upcycling, composting, anaerobic digestion, or landfilling. All steps in the life cycle of wasted food produce greenhouse gas emissions. Food waste, therefore, is on a one-way pathway that ultimately leads to negative effects.
What's the impact of wasted food?
It can be hard to conceptualize the impact wasted food has, but just because we may not think about what happens after throwing out some leftovers doesn’t mean there aren’t consequences. The food we toss doesn’t magically disappear.
The environmental impact of food waste:
Food waste poses a significant burden on the environment. Essentially, it leads to greenhouse gas emissions, deforestation, soil erosion, water scarcity issues, water pollution (such as eutrophication!), and air pollution. All of these negative effects degrade ecosystems and add to our climate issues.
Food waste leads to GHG emissions.
Food waste generates 8-10% of global greenhouse gas emissions, that’s almost five times the total emissions from the aviation sector! In fact, the global carbon footprint of wasted food is projected to be approximately 3.3 billion tons of CO2 equivalent. Excluding landfill emissions, food waste generates emissions equal to that of 42 coal-fired power plants.
Furthermore, when wasted food goes to a landfill, the nutrients in the food never return to the soil. The wasted food instead rots and produces methane, which the EPA estimates totals 58% of landfill methane emissions.
Food waste unsustainably uses resources.
Producing food also uses a lot of resources, so throwing out this food wastes these resources. The misuse of limited resources alone is wildly unsustainable. For example, about 250 trillion kilograms of water is wasted annually to produce food that is eventually discarded. This accounts for more than one-quarter of total freshwater use.
Food waste also wastes energy, with the energy embedded in wasted food representing about 2% of annual energy consumption in the US. A year of food waste could supply enough energy to power 50 million US homes for a year.
The environmental impacts of wasted food are vast.
Overall, by wasting food, the underlying resources such as land, water, and energy are squandered and the negative environmental impacts that follow are too large to ignore. Researchers agree that reducing food waste is an appropriate and necessary measure to conserve resources and lessen our climate burdens.
The social impact of food waste:
Research shows that wasted food is a widespread problem that occurs in high-, middle, and low-income countries. Yet, although this issue is widespread, it’s an inequitable one. Domestic households in high-income countries are the primary contributors to food waste.
Despite this, developing and lower-income countries are generally the most at risk for food scarcity and climate-related problems. An estimated third of humanity faces food insecurity. Food waste, therefore, unfairly exacerbates the problem of hunger and malnutrition.
One-fifth of available food is being wasted annually. That’s in addition to the 13% of the world’s food that’s lost in the supply chain too! Reducing food waste is crucial to guarantee food security and to avoid endemic shortages in emerging and developing countries by making sure our resources aren’t wasted and can be used appropriately for those who need it most.
The economic impact of food waste:
Wasting food imposes economic costs along with environmental and societal costs. The estimated economic value of the global loss of food is $750 billion. For US businesses and consumers, food waste costs as much as $198 billion per year. The avoidable consumer waste portions out to cost about $1600 per year for a family of four. That adds up!
Waste reduction would therefore not only lessen environmental impacts but also save money. It would also support a circular economy, which I’m a huge proponent for. Using food for its intended purpose, preventing waste, and recovering nutrients from wasted food are all things that help close the loop in an otherwise linear life cycle full of resource burdens.
What can we do to limit food waste?
There’s a dire need to keep track of food waste and make progress on this issue. We must address this problem at both individual and systemic levels, including collaboration and action on large and small scales.
On the large scale we need policy and research.
Despite the environmental, societal, and financial burdens of food waste, this isn’t a problem on many leaders’ minds. For example, only 11 countries mentioned food loss in their Paris Agreement commitments and none mentioned food waste.
There is hope though. We’re already seeing that policies in place to mitigate food waste generation are successful. Policies, such as the European Circular Economy Action Plan, have prompted specific actions like the facilitation of food donation and improvement of date markings which have led to lowering food waste volumes.
On the small scale we need individual action.
Individual action in the case against food waste can take many forms but it’s just as important – if not maybe the most important – aspect of combatting the negatives of this issue.
To reduce the problems associated with food waste, we need to prevent food from being wasted in the first place and sustainably manage what wasted food can’t be prevented.
To reduce food waste we can:
Cook intentionally
Cooking intentionally means making a plan, sticking to grocery lists to avoid overbuying, and making sure to use the food we get in its entirety. A common reason so much food goes to waste is the overbuying of perishable food. After all, buying in excess leaves a greater chance for food to not get used before it expires! By buying and cooking food with intention our hard-earned money won’t go to waste with the food we toss.
Store food properly
Food waste mainly happens to perishable products like fruits and vegetables. Short shelf lives are among the causes of this, but knowing how to store food properly can extend the life of these easily spoiled products. Take inventory of what food goes bad before it’s eaten in your household and learn the basics of how to store perishable goods. Doing so will give you a longer chance to use up your food which helps your grocery budget and lessens our food waste issues.
Learn more about expiration dates
Many dates printed on your food are merely guidelines, so learning more about the true shelf life of your food will help reduce throwing out items that are still perfectly safe to consume. For example, despite their longer shelf life, grain products are the second most wasted food product. This is primarily caused by consumer confusion about expiration dates!
It’s easy to misinterpret the meaning of date labeling, yet people are also overly cautious about these dates. So, products like bread, rice, and noodles are inappropriately discarded once they surpass their “best before” dates. I encourage you to learn more about expiration dates next time you go to toss out something because it may be perfectly fine still.
Use up leftovers
Either repurpose leftovers into something new, freeze and eat later, or just be mindful of your leftovers so nothing goes to waste after a meal is cooked. Eating leftovers means you won’t have to cook as much, your money won’t go to waste, and you won’t have uneaten food going to waste. So, get thoughtful about using your leftovers or get creative on a situation-by-situation basis and less food will go to waste.
Repurpose unwanted food
When you know you aren’t going to eat something, repurpose it instead of tossing it! For example, inedible or unwanted parts of food can be easily composted. Compost helps improve soil and water quality so this is an excellent option that doesn’t take as much thinking as other options. Other methods you can employ are giving certain scraps to animals or repurposing unwanted food into something else like simmer pots, broth, pet treats, etc. There are tons of creative options you just need to start looking for them!
We need to pay more attention to our food.
Wasted food is part of our environmental problems, we have to be conscious consumers. Tackling this issue will not only help fight climate issues but also help us work towards an equitable future. Take inventory of your habits and strive to address potential wasted food in your life. Then take some time to learn about food safety and proper food storage.
Aside from that you can use resources like Too Good To Go, Imperfect Foods, or programs like Copia to fight food waste in your community. Research the programs in your area for a better idea of how you can make a difference!