Table of Contents
Background
Food wastage is food that are discarded or left unused. The causes of food waste or loss are numerous and happen at the manufacturing, processing, retailing and consumption phases. (Wikipedia, 2019) In low income nations, the majority of food losses happen during manufacturing. Whereas in advanced nations, a great deal of food, around 100 kilograms per individual per year is wasted during consumption. Deforested land, extinct species, indigenous population and degraded soil are what it took to produce food that we then just throw away. (OLIO, n.d) Wasted food leads to detrimental effects for the environment, further degrading our planet. We must combat this with efforts to reduce our environmental footprints.
Discussion
Produce Waste vs Protein Waste
It is fish and meat waste that leads the pack when it comes to environmental impact even though research shows that produce waste trump protein waste in terms of volume. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, thirty one percent of all food available at the retail/consumer level went uneaten in 2010 with meat, fish and poultry contributing the biggest impact. (Dow, n.d)
Environmental Problems
When we squander food, we are likewise squandering every one of the assets that went into developing it. According to the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, the worldwide food system accounts for up to 33% of all greenhouse gas emissions caused by humans, making it one of the major contributors to climate change. (Simon, 2018) The fact that we carelessly waste 33% of our food globally means that there is huge potential to reduce our environmental footprint.
127 our experts are availableright now
Prevention of Food Wastage
Supermarkets like Giant, Cold Storage, FairPrice and Sheng Siong gives reduced-to-clear promotions for fruits and vegetables that are about to expire. With FairPrice using this strategy, they are able to save 675000kg of fruits and vegetable across 145 stores island wide. (Ng, 2018) An on-site food waste treatment system that converts food waste to potable water have been adopted by Giant hypermarket as part of an initiative to recycle food waste while organic supermarket Ryan’s Grocery puts up a box for items that are near expire which allows customers to pick any items they want free or charge but in return, they will have to donate at least a dollar to an association which the supermarket supports.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is clear that food waste is caused by people in developed countries not valuing food. Food waste is a global issue and it is one of the largest contributions to climate change and also has significant effect on the environment. All these amounts of food thrown away is wasting the natural resources of the world and space needed for landfilling. Food can be recycled so that it can be converted to something else instead of going to waste.
References
- Food waste – Wikipedia
- OLIO
- United States Department of Agriculture
- Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research
- Natural Resources Defense Council – Food Waste
- EPA – Reducing Wasted Food at Home
- FAO – Key Findings: Global Food Losses and Food Waste
- Foodsource – Water, Energy, and Carbon Footprints of Different Diets
