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- ISSUE 11/15 -

Content 10

10 Tips to reduce your amount of wasted food

Causes and extent of food waste

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why do we waste so much and how can we stop?

Foodbanks

how to prevent food loss and help at the same time

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12 Food waste around the world - United Nations - European Union - United States

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Waste of Resources

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T h e Tea m

The writers Celia Berlemont Mikaela Ramos Mingjun Hong

editing & design Vera Schmies

Marketing & Publishing

Sandra Hjortsberg

Veronika Tomeckova 3

- FOOD WASTE -

FOOD WASTE AROUND THE WORLD

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ood waste or food loss is food that is discarded or lost uneaten. The causes of food waste or loss are numerous, and occur at the stages of production, processing, retailing and consumption.

As of 2013, half of all food is wasted worldwide, according to the British Institution of Mechanical Engineers.

Loss and wastage occurs at all stages of the food supply chain or value chain. In low-income countries, most loss occurs during production, while in developed countries much food – about 100 kilgrams per person per year – is wasted at the consumption stage. The definition of waste is a contentious subject, often defined on a situational basis; this also applies to food waste.

Professional bodies, including international organizations, state governments and secretariats may use their own definitions.

Definitions of food waste vary, among other things, in what food waste consists of, how it is produced, and where

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or what it is discarded from or generated by. Definitions also vary because certain groups do not consider (or have traditionally not considered) food waste to be a waste material, due to its applications. Some definitions of what food waste consists of are based on other waste definitions and which materials do not meet their definitions

United Nations

that is, the throwing away of food.

European Union In the European Union, food waste was defined as “any food substance, raw or cooked, which is discarded, or intended or required to be discarded” since 1975 until 2000 when the old directive was repealed.

The new Directive which contained a definition amended in 1991 with the addition of

A 2011 study by the Swedish Institute for Food and Biotechnology on behalf of Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Global Food Losses and Food Waste, distinguishes between “food loss” and “food waste”, and provides figures for both: Food loss measures the decrease in edible food mass “throughout the part of the supply chain that specifically leads to edible food for human consumption”, that is, loss at the production, postharvest and processing stages. This definition of loss includes biomass originally meant for human consumption but eventually used for some other purpose, as fuel or animal feed.

Food waste is food loss occurring during the retail and final consumption stages due to the behavior of retailers and consumers –

lost fromthe food supply chain, not including food diverted to material uses such as bio-based products, animal feed, or sent for redistribution”. Concurrently, all Member States of the European Union shall establish frameworks to collect and report levels of food waste across all sectors in a comparable way. The latest data are requested to develop national food waste prevention plans, aimed to reach the objective to reduce food waste by at least 30% between 1 January 2017 and 31 December 2025. To enable the process, the Commission shall adopt implementing acts by 31 December 2017 in order to establish uniform conditions for monitoring the implementation of food waste prevention measures taken

by Member States of the EU.

United States

“categories of waste” and the omission of any reference to national law.

In July 2014, the European Commission has announced its targets for the circular economy, waste management and provided a “food waste” definition as “food

The United States Environmental Protection Agency defines food waste for the United States as “uneaten food and food preparation wastes from residences and commercial establishments such as grocery stores, restaurants, and produce stands, institutional cafeterias and kitchens, and industrial sources like employee lunchrooms”. The states remain free to define food waste differently for their purposes, though many choose not to.

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- FOOD WASTE -

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te was od fo of s Cause

n developing and developed countries which operate either commercial or industrial agriculture, food waste can occur at most stages of the food industry and in significant amounts.

In subsistence agriculture, the amounts of food waste are unknown, but are likely to be insignificant by comparison, due to the limited stages at which waste can occur, and given that food is grown for projected need as opposed to a global marketplace demand. Nevertheless, on-farm losses in storage in develop-

ing countries, particularly in African countries, can be high although the exact nature of such losses is much debated.

Research into the food industry of the United States, whose food supply is the most diverse and abundant of any country in the world, found food waste occurring at the beginning of food production.

From planting, crops can be subjected to pest infestations and severe weather, which cause losses before harvest.

Since natural forces remain the primary drivers of crop 6

growth, losses from these can be experienced by all forms of outdoor agriculture. The use of machinery in harvesting can cause waste, as harvesters may be unable to discern between ripe and immature crops, or collect only part of a crop. Economic factors, such as regulations and standards for quality and appearance, also cause food waste; farmers often harvest selectively, preferring to leave crops not to standard in the field, since they would otherwise be discarded later.

Food waste continues in the post-harvest stage, but the

amounts of post-harvest loss involved are relatively unknown and difficult to estimate. Regardless, the variety of factors that contribute to food waste, both biological/environmental and socio-economical, would limit the usefulness and reliability of general figures. In storage, considerable quantitative losses can be attributed to pests and micro-organisms.

This is a particular problem for countries that experience a combination of heat and ambient humidity, as such conditions encourage the

reproduction of insect pests and micro-organisms. Losses in the nutritional value, caloric value and edibility of crops, by extremes of temperature, humidity or the action of micro-organisms, also account for food waste; these “qualitative losses� are more difficult to assess than quantitative ones.

Further losses are generated in the handling of food and by shrinkage in weight or volume.

Some of the food waste produced by processing can be difficult to reduce without affecting the quality of the finished product. Food safety

regulations are able to claim foods which contradict standards before they reach markets. Although this can conflict with efforts to reuse food waste safety regulations are in place to ensure the health of the consumer; they are vitally important, especially in the processing of foodstuffs of animal origin (e.g. meat and dairy products), as contaminated products from these sources can lead to and are associated with microbiological and chemical hazards.

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- FOOD WASTE -

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The extent of

f the amount of food wasted around the world were reduced by just 25% there would be enough food to feed all the people who are malnourished, according to the UN. Each year 1.3bn tonnes of food, about a third of all that is produced, is wasted, including about 45% of all fruit and vegetables, 35% of fish and seafood, 30% of cereals, 20% of dairy products and 20% of meat. Meanwhile, 795 million people suffer from severe hunger and malnutrition.

ers throw away between 30% and 40% of all food purchased, whereas in poorer countries only 5% to 16% of food is thrown away.

According to a 2011 report,

Well-publicised attempts to combat the loss of food – such as recent laws in France that require supermarkets to distribute unsold food to charities – have highlighted the issue of food waste, identified by the UN as one of the great challenges to achieving food security.

Estimates suggest that by 2050 food production will need to have increased by 60% on 2005 levels to feed a growing global population. Reducing food wastage would ease the burden on resources allowing to meet future demand.

Fighting food waste: four stories from around the world. The problem is global but manifests itself in starkly different ways. In developing countries there are high levels of what is known as “food loss”, which is unintentional wastage, often due to poor equipment, transportation and infrastructure. In wealthy countries, there are low levels of unintentional losses but high levels of “food waste”, which involves food being thrown away by consumers because they have purchased too much, or by retailers who reject food because of exacting aesthetic standards.

In developed countries, consumers and retail8

in Europe and North America each person wasted 95-115kg of otherwise edible food annually, whereas in sub-Saharan Africa and south and south-east Asia the equivalent waste was just 6-11kg.

“In the developing world, food waste is virtually non existent,” says Robert van Otterdijk, coordinator of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation’s Save Food programme.

f food waste “Food waste is happening in countries where people can afford to throw away food. One statistic is that the amount of food wasted by consumers in industrialised countries [222m tonnes a

year] is almost the same as the total net food production of sub-Saharan Africa [230m tonnes].

“But food losses, on the other hand, are really rampant in developing countries because of the underdeveloped conditions they have, from management of production to transportation and distribution.” The environmental impact of food loss and waste is high. The carbon footprint of food produced and not eaten is estimated at 3.3 gigatonnes of CO2, meaning that if food waste were a country it would rank as the third

highest national emitter of greenhouse gases after the US and China. About 1.4bn hectares, or close to 30% of available agricultural land, is used to grow or farm food that is subsequently

“For every 2 tonnes of food and drink consumed in the home, another tonne is going to waste at some point in the chain” wasted. And more surface and groundwater, or “blue water”, is used to produce wasted food around the globe than is used for agriculture by any single country, including India and China “The whole issue of climate change has to do with our economy of production and consumption being out of balance with what the Earth can provide,” says Van Otterdijk.

“Production of food is one of the biggest production sectors in the world, and if one-third of all this is just produced in vain you can imagine what a huge impact this has on the natural resources – on land, water, energy and greenhouse gas emissions.” The worst food waste offenders are the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, where consumers waste 39% of all food purchased, followed by Europe, where about 31% of all food purchased by consumers is thrown away.

In the UK, 15m tonnes of food is lost or wasted each year. British consumers throw away 4.2m tonnes of edible food each year, equivalent in weight to 86 QE2s. This means that 11.7% of all food purchased is avoidably wasted, at an estimated cost to each family of £700 a year, or almost £60 a month.

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- YOUR WASTE -

#1 Shop smart and realistically It sounds simple, but this is one of the most important things you can do. When you go food shopping, make sure you don’t buy too much food. This may mean going to the grocery store more often, and buying less food each time. If you live far away from the store or you hate shopping, you should be thoughtful and careful about what you purchase.

10 #2 When cooking dont over-serve food

The idea of massive portions is partly driven by restaurant culture, but it’s started to trickle into our homes. Fight against that, and don’t over-serve friends and family when you’re cooking meals.

#3 Save - and actually eat- leftovers In the same vein, make sure you save uneaten food when you either cook too much or you get too much food at a restaurant. Label your leftovers so you can keep track of how long they’ve been in your fridge or freezer.

#5 Avoid clutter in your fridge and freezer Out of sight is out of mind when it comes to storing food. If we forget something’s there until it’s no longer good to consume, that’s a huge waste. Keep things neat and visible, and use the “first in, first out” principle: After you buy new groceries, move the older products to the front so you consume them first.

#4 Store food in the right places It’s often surprising what kinds of fruits and vegetables want to be at room temperature versus in the refrigerator. Food Republic has a fantastic infographic to help you pinpoint where your various foods should go, while Heart.org breaks down where to put your fruits and veggies to make them last longer.

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ways

#6 Treat expiration dates as guide-lines When it comes to expiration and sell-by dates, don’t pay to much attention to them, as they identify food quality, not food safety.

s to reduce your own food waste #8 Donate to food banks and farms

#7 Keep track of what you throw away

Before you throw away excess food, look into food banks and charities where you can bring items you know you’re not going to consume before they go bad, and give them to people in need. You can find local food banks through Feeding America and WhyHunger.

You can also donate scraps and other types of food to farms and companies to feed livestock. Read guidelines on that practice here.

#9 Try canning and pickling Canning is a great way to preserve food (especially fruit) and increase its shelf life for months. Here’s a great guide to get started.

Manage a waste log to keep an eye on what you’re throwing out, so you can prevent doing the same in the future. Maybe even add dollar signs to each thing you throw away. The other side is to keep track of what’s already in your fridge before you go shopping; that way, you won’t double-up on products and fail to use them before they go bad. As obvious as that sounds, we all forget to do it from time to time.

#10 Use helpfull apps and gadgets There are various tools and apps that aim to help people avoid food waste. PareUp gives discounts to New Yorkers who buy excess food at local businesses and restaurants. Handpick helps you plan meals around ingredients you already have. Ample Harvest points gardeners to food pantries where they can donate excess food, and Food Cowboy makes it easy for wholesalers and truckers to find charities where they can donate unsold food.

There’s even a small gadget called the Green Heart raising funds on Kickstarter, which contains a small packet of potassium crystals that absorb the gas fruit release when they ripen. The creators say fruit can last up to three days longer.

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- FOODBANKS -

Share your foo

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million people live below the p overty line in the UK. Every day people in the UK go hungry for reasons ranging from redundancy to receiving an unexpected bill on a low income.

Trussell Trust foodbanks provide a minimum of three days emergency food and support to people experiencing crisis in the UK. In 201415 foodbanks fed 1,084,604 people nationwide.

Of those helped, 396,997 were children.

Rising food and fuel prices, static incomes, underemployment and changes to benefits are some of the reasons why increasing numbers are being referred to foodbanks for emergency food.

The Trussell Trust partners with churches and communities to open new foodbanks nationwide. With over 420 foodbanks currently launched, our goal is for every town to have one. Foodbanks help prevent crime, housing

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loss, family breakdown and mental health problems. A simple box of food makes a big difference.

All food is donated by the public and sorted by volunteers. Frontline care professionals such as doctors and social workers identify people in crisis and issue a food voucher. Clients receive three days of nutritionally balanced, non-perishable food in exchange for their food voucher.

Foodbanks also make time to chat and to signpost clients to other helpful services.

For Charlotte, the foodbank was a life saver 21 year-old college student Charlotte had not eaten properly for weeks and could not afford gas to heat her flat when she came to the foodbank

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in January. After leaving state care she was determined to make something of her life and was funding herself through college. Working two evening jobs to make ends meet, she was made redundant from both within a month.

As a 21-year-old in full time education with no children she did not qualify for benefits. She sold everything she had and, with nowhere else to turn, she asked her local councillor for help; they referred her to the foodbank. When she arrived she was ill, dehydrated and in a stages of malnutrition.

She says she has no idea what she would have done without it. She was so impressed by the support she received that she began volunteering at the foodbank.

When temperatures plummet in winter, foodbank clients across the UK are often forced to choose between eating and heating. For Anne-Marie and Danny, 22, a delay in benefits hit at the same time as Danny was off work with flu. He received no sick pay and finances got so tight that they were faced with eviction and having no money for food.

The couple and their 18-month-old daughter, Tia, were living and sleeping in one room to reduce heating bills. They resorted to borrowing a tin of soup from their neighbours to stop little Tia going hungry. When the foodbank delivered an emergency foodbox to the delighted family there was ice on the inside of their windows.

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- RESOURCES -

Waste of Resources

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t is inevitable that economic activity results in some proportion of the resources used being wasted. However good the technology used, it is impossible to extract all of the useful component from a mineral deposit, and the laws of physics show that it is impossible to convert all the heat from fuel used in a power station into electrical power. On the other hand, almost all economic activity could be less wasteful of resources than is presently the case.

When projects are being planned, conven- tional cost-benefit analysis usually aims to optimise the financial return on investment. Environmental impacts are often omitted from the cost structure.

Moreover, raw materials tend to be valued at the cost of extraction and conversion, rather than as (non-renew- able) “geological capital�. Thus there may be little or no commercial incentive to maximise the efficiency with which these irreplaceable resources are used.

Using resources more efficiently means that a given resource can provide a greater useful economic benefit: either the activity can occur at a higher level, or it can continue for a longer time. Optimising the yield of a mineral separation process will generally reduce the environmental impact of using the resource involved. On the other hand, increasing yield often entails a larger energy consumption in the process; minimising waste of one individual resource, therefore, is not necessarily the best overall environmental option.

Waste of energy is arguably the single most serious waste of natural resources, especially at industrial levels, since the energy lost due to inefficiencies leads to using more energy resources than is nec-

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essary. In most indus- trial economies the source of the additional energy required is almost always a fossil fuel (coal, gas, petrol, diesel, etc), the burning of which emits greenhouse gases.

Thus waste of energy accelerates climate change. The overall and long-term economic damage resulting from climate change is greatly dis- proportionate to the shortterm economic benefit of using fossil fuels. However, fossil fuels are likely to remain the predominant source of energy to replace that lost by inef- ficiencies until a surplus of renewable energy generation capacity becomes available.

This is very unlikely to occur in the foreseeable future unless both the energy consumption per person and the number of people consuming energy, both reduce rather than continue to grow.

At a domestic level in the more affluent countries large amounts of resources are wasted, including energy, water and food.

Much of this wastage could be eliminated but there are as yet insufficient financial incentives to bring about the required change in behaviour and focus.

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