Food loss and waste
[18][19] In the European Union (EU), food waste is defined by combining the definitions of food and waste, namely: "any substance or product, whether processed, partially processed or unprocessed, intended to be, or reasonably expected to be ingested by humans (...)" (including things such as drinks and chewing gum; excluding things such as feed, medicine, cosmetics, tobacco products, and narcotic or psychotropic substances) "which the holder discards or intends or is required to discard".
178/2002 (the General Food Law Regulation), as amended on 1 July 2022, defined food as "any substance or product, whether processed, partially processed or unprocessed, intended to be, or reasonably expected to be ingested by humans (...)", including things such as drinks and chewing gum, excluding things such as feed, medicine, cosmetics, tobacco products, and narcotic or psychotropic substances.
FAO has worked towards the harmonization of concepts related to food loss and waste, and the definitions adopted in this report are the result of a consensus reached in consultation with experts in this field.
This measurement fails to account for the economic value of different commodities and can risk attributing a higher weight to low-value products just because they are heavier.
[37] Since natural forces (e.g. temperature and precipitation) remain the primary drivers of crop growth, losses from these can be experienced by all forms of outdoor agriculture.
[51][52] This is a particular problem for countries that experience a combination of heat (around 30 °C) and ambient humidity (between 70 and 90 per cent), as such conditions encourage the reproduction of insect pests and micro-organisms.
Some stores put efforts into preventing access to poor or homeless people, while others work with charitable organization to distribute food.
[66] The USDA publishes guidelines used as a baseline assessment by produce distributors, grocery stores, restaurants and other consumers in order to rate the quality of food.
Similar interventions which have been found to be effective at reducing restaurant food waste include utilizing reusable rather than disposable plates and decreasing serving size.
Well-intentioned nonprofit staff and volunteers work with insufficient knowledge of how to safely handle and store food to prevent spoilage.
FANOs have limited resources, like volunteer time and sporadic donations, and may not have the capacity to decipher complex, contradictory food safety regulations.
[87] Several interventions have been designed to achieve food waste reduction at the consumer level, such as reducing portion size and changing plates.
However, despite being practical to some extent, these interventions can result in unintended consequences due to the lack of understanding of underlying causes and what influences consumers to act on specific behaviors.
[88] Post-harvest losses of vegetables and fruits occur at all points in the value chain from production in the field to the food being placed on a plate for consumption.
Canada, Mexico, and the United States are working together under the Commission for Environmental Cooperation in order to address the severe problem of food waste in North America.
A local authority campaign "Operation empty plate" (Chinese: 光盘行动; pinyin: Guāngpán xíngdòng) was started to reduce waste, including encouraging food outlets to limit orders to one fewer main dish than the number of customers.
[104] As of December 2020, a draft law is under consideration to penalise food outlets if they encourage or mislead customers to order excessive meals causing obvious waste, first with a warning and then fines of up to 10,000 yuan.
[114] In response to this issue, in 2016, France became the first country in the world to pass a unanimous legislation that bans supermarkets from throwing away or destroying unsold food.
[118] The research team replicated the study in 2019,[119] According to the second measurement, food waste generated by the Hungarian households was estimated to be 65.5 kg per capita annually.
[131] Food waste in the United Kingdom is a subject of environmental, and socioeconomic concern that has received widespread media coverage and been met with varying responses from government.
[13] In a study done by National Geographic in 2014, Elizabeth Royte indicated more than 30 percent of food in the United States, valued at $162 billion annually, is not eaten.
[12] In terms of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with food loss and waste, the biggest contribution is again from cereals and pulses (more than 60 percent), followed by roots, tubers and oil-bearing crops.
[142] Response to the problem of food waste at all social levels has varied hugely, including campaigns from advisory and environmental groups,[143] and concentrated media attention on the subject.
The general consensus currently suggest that reducing food waste by either prevention or valorisation, for human consumption, infers higher environmental benefits compared to the lower priority levels, such as energy production or disposal.
Multiple private enterprises have developed hardware and software solutions dealing mainly with the prevention of food waste within foodservice production facilities (contract catering, hotels & resorts, cruise ships, casinos etc.
Dumping food waste in a landfill causes odour as it decomposes, attracts flies and vermin, and has the potential to add biological oxygen demand (BOD) to the leachate.
[164] Large quantities of fish, meat, dairy and grain are discarded at a global scale annually, when they can be used for things other than human consumption.
Composting is the aerobic process completed by microorganisms in which the bacteria break down the food waste into simpler organic materials that can then be used in soil.
[174] One municipality who chose to regulate MFW is San Francisco, who requires citizens to separate compost from trash on their own, instituting fines for non-compliance at $100 for individual homes and $500 for businesses.
The city's economic reasoning for this controversial mandate is supported by their estimate that one business can save up to $30,000 annually on garbage disposal costs with the implementation of the required composting.
