What do "food supply" and "food waste" mean to you?
What kinds of situations come to mind when you see or hear "food supply" and "food waste"?
What do you want to know about "food supply" and "food waste"? Why?
食品ロス(しょくひんロス)とは、まだ十分に食べられる状態の食品が破棄されることである。その(まだ食べられる段階で廃棄された)食品を指す意味で用いられることもある。(実用日本語表現辞典, 2020.11.19, weblio辞書)
世界的な飢餓は食料不足によるものではありません。現在、世界では地球上のすべての子ども、女性、男性に栄養を与えるのに十分な食料が生産されています。しかし、毎年生産される食料の約5分の1は消費されることなく浪費されたり失われたりしています。[...] 以下は、いくつかの基本的な事実です(出典:UNEP食品廃棄物指数報告2024)
1.人間の消費用に生産された食料の5分の1が世界全体で失われたり廃棄されたりしています。これは1日あたり10億食分に相当します。
2.食品ロスが世界経済に与える総コストはおよそ1兆米ドルと推定されています。
3. 食品ロスによる温室効果ガス排出量は世界全体の約10%を占め、航空部門の総排出量のほぼ5倍に相当します。
4.食品ロスの60%は家庭で発生しています。
5.気温が高い国では、高温が食品の保管、加工、輸送に影響を与えるため、家庭レベルでも収穫後の段階でも食品ロスが多くなります。(World Food Programme, 2024.06.25, 食品ロスと飢餓に関する5つの事実 途上国の農場での不適切な食糧保管と、裕福な国での無計画な買い物により生じる衝撃的なコスト)
「食品ロス」とは、本来食べられるにもかかわらず捨てられる食品のことです。包装に印字ミスがあったり、賞味期限が近い食品など、まだまだ食べられるにも関わらず、廃棄されてしまうのが現状です。(NPO法人日本フードバンクシステム, 日付なし, “もったいない”を無くしたい。FOODBANKが「食品ロス」問題を解決します。)
1. food supply and food waste: “The number of people suffering from hunger reached up to 820 million in 2020, almost 10% of the world population, according to the United Nations’ latest estimates. Yet experts agree that more than enough food is produced to feed everyone on the planet. Tragically, around one third of it is never eaten – Around 14% is lost between harvest and retail and another 17% goes to waste in homes, restaurants and stores.” (UNCTAD, 20 September 2021) Stop food waste to fight hunger and protect the planet)
2. food supply: "Worldwide, the food supply available to people depends on a variety of environmental, technical, and sociopolitical factors, the relative importance of which have varied considerably in time as well as geographically. Environmental factors have governed food production and availability throughout history, and this remains so for many societies. However, in a world where food is abundant as never before, food supply is extremely vulnerable to economic and political interests, as well as technical factors, such as transportation and communications." (Encyclopedia.com, no date, Food Supply And The Global Food Market)
3. food waste: ".. When we talk about food waste, we don’t only mean what we, consumers, throw away, but also what stores don’t sell and then discard; what restaurants and hotels waste and what manufacturers and farmers lose along the way. There is also a difference in wastage between industrialized and developing countries. People in rich countries waste an average of 95-115 kg of food per person each year, whereas in poorer countries only an average of 8-11 kg per person is wasted annually.” (Eat Responsibly, no date, Too precious for the bin)
Japan: Amid climate change, LED-lit ‘plant factories’ enter spotlight (The Asahi Shimbun, 22 February, 2025)
日本:「食品ロス」年間472万トン! 事業者たちの削減への取り組み(TOKYO MX NEWS, 2024/12/11)
日本:社会の優しさが詰め込まれた“善意の冷蔵庫”、岡山発「コミュニティフリッジ」(ひとまち結び 人の想い、街の未来, 2023/02/15)
Japan: Consumers show growing support for imperfect products amid rising prices (Zenbird, 7 November 2024)
Canada: Nearly half of the food produced in Canada is wasted annually: report (CTV News, 22 October 2024)
Japan: Children meal programs hit 10,000 locations nationwide (Asahi Shimbun, 12 December 2024)
Japan: Soaring food prices push up Japan's Consumer Price Index (CPI) [Video 5:18] (NHK, 21 February 2025)
Spain: 'Number one priority': New Spanish law aims to tackle food waste (Euronews, 29 July 2022)
Food and Climate Change: Healthy diets for a healthier planet (United Nations, 18 June 2024)
Increasing food sustainability (BBC, 2025)
Explainer: What Is Food Waste? (Earth.org, 22 November 2021)
Risk of food crisis from shaky supply chain (Nikkei Asia, 17 December 2023)
Food waste in Japan (Zenbird, no date)
Japan’s Growing “Children’s Cafeteria” Movement Supporting Adults Too (Nippon.com, 25 January 2025)
South Korean farmers embrace hi-tech methods [Video 2:23 ] (Al Jazeera, 14 May 2020)
Food Waste: The Hidden Cost of the Food We Throw Out [Video 4:53] (Climate Science, 7 August 2023)
How climate change is disrupting the global food supply [Video 6:12] (PBS Newshour, 28 August 2023)
Nourishing Stories: Children's Cafeteria [Video 4:45] (Nourishing Japan, 28 August 2020)
Food waste is a global problem. Here are major drivers and what can be done about it [Video 5:48] (PBS Newshour, 7 April 2024)
How harmful can ultra-processed foods be for us? [Video 6:42] (BBC News, 10 June 2023)
Examples of local action in Japanese society
対馬高生を支援「フードドライブ」 余剰食材、寮生の舎食や弁当に 島内外に輪が広がる(長崎新聞, 2022/12/13)
食べ物の「もったいない」を減らす!あすまるさんキッチンの取り組み(kewpie, 2025/01/27)
Tackling the Big Problem of Food Waste - A Campaign of a Young Woman to Change Society (The Better Tomorrow Moment, 2020)
Examples of local action in other societies
Denmark: Let's Fight Food Waste. And Talk Sustainability. (Matt Homewood: Food Waste campaigning, 2021)
England: Social enterprise tackles food waste (University of Leeds, 20 March 2024)
The Philippines: Waste pickers collect food waste, help combat climate change (Associated Press, 17 March 2023)