Technical Platform on the Measurement and Reduction of Food Loss and Waste

What is the real cost of food

What is the real cost of food? Around 14% of all food produced is between harvest and the wholesale market. The food lost is worth 400 billion USD per year. But food loss is not only about money lost. There are also social and environmental impacts. 75 billion cubic meters of water are used each year to produce fruits and vegetables that are lost. Fruit and vegetable losses mean that 912 trillion kilocalories and micronutrients never make it to consumers. 715 million hectares of land go to waste due to losses in meat and animal products. The greenhouse gas emissions linked with food loss are equal to roughly 1.5 gigatonnes of CO2. This does not even include the greenhouse gases released by wasted food that rots in landfills. Or the cost of all the food wasted at retail and consumer level worldwide. Food is worth much more than what we pay for it. Stop Food Loss and Waste. For the people. For the planet.

10/03/2022