Reducing the Environmental and Social Costs of Food Loss and Waste
Washington, DC - FAO currently estimates that one-third of all the food produced globally for human consumption is either lost or wasted - approximately 1.3 billion metric tons - per year. Food loss and waste is particularly significant in North America, where every year between 30 and 40 percent - an estimated 139 million tons - of the food available for human consumption is either lost or wasted across all stages of the food supply chain.
To bring attention to the social and environmental cost of food loss and waste, FAO, the UN Environment Programme (UN Environment) and the Alliance to End Hunger, in conjunction with the Congressional Food Recovery Caucus, convened a Capitol Hill briefing featuring panelists that provided unique multi-sectoral perspectives on the theme. Katy Franklin, Head of Operations at ReFed, moderated the discussion.
“In a world where more than 820 million people are still suffering from hunger, wasting one-third of the food produced is unacceptable,” emphasized Thomas Pesek, Senior Liaison Officer at FAO in his opening remarks. He noted that the 2019 State of Food and Agriculture Report that will be released in mid-October will present new data based on the Food Loss Index.
Barbara Hendrie, Director of UN Environment’s North America Office, explained UNEP's focus on raising global awareness on food waste, and its' work with partners on the Champions 12.3 initiative to reduce the food loss and waste by half by 2030. UN Environment is currently developing a food waste index to help countries measure their baseline for food waste.
Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME), who has been championing efforts to address food loss and waste, and is co-chair of the Congressional Food Recovery Caucus, provided the keynote address. Congresswomen Pingree underlined the importance of harmonizing food labeling with estimates indicating that approximately 90 percent of Americans prematurely throw out perfectly safe food, in part because of a misunderstanding of date labels. This is why Representatives Chellie Pingree and Dan Newhouse (R-WA) recently introduced the bipartisan Food Date Labeling Act to end consumer confusion around food date labeling and to reduce food waste.
Carrie Calvert, Managing Director of Agriculture and Nutrition Government Relations at Feeding America, emphasized the incredible need for food assistance in the U.S. She agreed on the importance of implementing uniform date labeling, especially when 20 States in the U.S. ban donations for food that has passed the date, even if the quality is fine.
While standardizing food labeling is key to prevent food waste, reducing surplus food production is also crucial to minimize the environmental consequences, pointed out Dr. Martin Heller, author of UN Environment’s Waste Not, Want Not: Reducing Food Loss and Waste in North America Through Life Cycle-Based Approaches report. He noted that 80 percent of the greenhouse gas emissions occur before food reaches consumers.
Elise Golan, Director for Sustainable Development at U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), pointed out the need for ongoing consumer education on the numerous negative impacts of food loss and waste. With this goal in mind, USDA, with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) launched the Winning on Reducing Food Waste initiative in April 2019. The aim of the agreement is to improve coordination and communication across federal agencies attempting to better sensitize Americans on the impacts and importance of reducing food loss and waste.
“We have seen a 50 percent reduction in food loss and waste in areas where we have implemented Lean Path and Waste Watch programs,” said Roxanne Moore, Executive Director of Sodexo Stop Hunger Foundation. Thanks to such tools, she added that the food services company Sodexo is able to capture food waste data rapidly, helping teams implement targeted operational and behavioral changes to end avoidable food waste, whether generated in the kitchen or by consumers.
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