We all have our passions. Cats, horses, cars, sports, food, good wine, and sometimes it can be more unusual things like butterflies, water conservation, recycling and food conservation.
My passion is definitely eating healthy and avoiding waste. I go nuts for a farmer’s market. So when I came across the recently published “World Resources Report: Creating a Sustainable Food Future” (https://wrr-food.wri.org/) I started reading.
The report states that “A significant share of the food produced for consumption is never consumed by people.”
The authors believe that a reduction of current rates of food loss and waste is possible, given the economic costs, some recent success stories, and the emergence of promising new technologies.
A striking statistic reveals that if food loss and waste were a country, it would be the third-largest greenhouse gas emitter in the world. That is something each of us has the power to change.
Food loss occurs at different stages along the food supply chain. The amount of food lost at each stage varies by region, an interesting fact that highlights the potential for improvements.
The report shows that for North America and Oceania (including Australia and New Zealand) 42 percent of total food available is lost or wasted. Two-thirds of this food loss and waste happens at consumption. Let me digest this (no pun intended). Two-thirds of 42 percent that’s approximate 25 percent. That means that we the consumers are wasting a quarter of all food available to us. A sobering number.
There are significant economic savings achievable for the consumer (less to spend on food) and for municipalities (less to spend on waste management).
Past initiatives, like that of the Waste and Resource Action Program in the United Kingdom, achieved significant reductions in household food waste by improving food labeling, educating consumers about the proper storage of different food items, and by reducing suggested portion sizes.
In a cafeteria-style foodservice environment like that found at schools and colleges, students can often control the amount of food they buy. One study found that by eliminating cafeteria-style trays and make students carry the food they purchase on plates prevented “hoarding” and reduced food waste by up to 25 percent.
www.ReFED.com displays an enlightening chart on their website. It lists 27 solutions to food waste and the benefits of each of these solutions. Benefits include economic ones, but also the amount of waste that can be diverted and emissions that can be reduced. In addition, the chart shows the high number of jobs that can be created or sustained by implementing centralized composting in our communities.
According to this chart, the highest financial benefits can be achieved through consumer education campaigns, standardized food labeling, and food packaging adjustments which supports the findings of the WRAP initiative mentioned above.
Limiting the amount of food waste is just one piece of this mega-sized puzzle. When it comes to improving our diets, reducing the consumption of meat, especially beef, sheep, and goat, has been identified as the most promising strategy to lower land requirements and Greenhouse Gas emissions while at the same time also achieving health benefits.
Did you know that it takes 100 calories of animal feed to produce just one calorie of beef? It also takes 100 calories of animal feed to produce 25 calories from eggs. One key insight: Livestock products are inefficient; beef and other ruminant meats are particularly inefficient.
Pulses, fruits, vegetables, and vegetable oils are generally more resource-intensive to produce than sugars and staple crops like rice and maize because of their lower yields; yet they are still favorable compared to meat, dairy, and farmed fish.
Although switching to plant-based foods would provide many additional environmental benefits and support animal welfare, most of the climate and land-use benefits would occur even if consumption switched from beef to chicken and pork.
But even more important than switching away from beef is not to waste what you bought; as perfectly summarized by one of my favorite mantras, possibly first published in 1914 by the Philadelphia Committee of Public Safety, Dept. of Food Supply:
Food
1 – buy it with thought
2 – cook it with care
3 – serve just enough
4 – save what will keep
5 – eat what would spoil
6 – home-grown is best
Don’t waste it.
