Too Much Food Waste- A UN Report

The United Nations which is a group of 193 countries that takes action on human rights, peace and climate change has reported about the problem of food waste around the globe. It has been found that there is nearly twice as much food waste as experts thought there was. Food waste makes up more than 21% of all trash in the world.

What does the report mention

The report calculates that 17% of all food produced around the world is thrown away. About 61% of that waste occurs in people’s homes. Another 26% happens in restaurants, cafeterias and food trucks and 13% is wasted in grocery stores. The report also mentions that more than a billion ton of food is wasted every year which is enough to feed about two billion people, according to experts.

Which countries are wasting food?

Experts used to believe that wealthy countries were responsible for most of the waste. However, the report found out that food is also wasted in developing countries that are largely agricultural and are poor. A family of 4 throws away about $1,500 worth of food each year. The UN had less data from developing nations, but found out that food waste is increasing in countries where there is less refrigeration available.

What are the effects of food waste

The wasted food contributes to climate change (the long- term changes in weather patterns, including temperature, mainly man-made).The United Nations reports that 8% to 10% of global greenhouse emissions are linked to uneaten food. A few reasons for this are that people are cutting down forests and burning fuel to transport that food and package it, which creates carbon dioxide which is the main culprit for trapping that heat in the atmosphere causing climate change. Rotting food in landfills releases more greenhouse gases. Food is going uneaten while people are hungry. In 2019, around 700 million people were affected by hunger. According to a UN report this number has most likely risen during the pandemic.

What can families do to help

Experts say that people can reduce food loss by reading food labels to understand terms like “sell by,” “best by,” and “enjoy by.” This is going to reduce chances of throwing away food that is still safe to eat. People can also refrain from buying too much food at one time, plan meals, and freeze as much as they can to keep food from spoiling.

What will happen next?

The UN hopes to cut food waste to half by 2030, but needs more information on how much is being thrown away, where, and why. The UN wants food to be addressed in the Paris Agreement (a treaty of 195 nations working together on climate change). In April, the UN will organise groups to work on the problem in five different parts of the world. Decreasing food waste will not only help our planet but will also address the issues surrounding food insecurity for people around the world.

Bibliography

The Week Junior, March 19, 2021, Volume 2, issue 49: This week’s big news: UN issues report on food waste.