The UN called food waste a ‘global tragedy’ as a third of the world faces food insecurity
From the “scrappy cooking” movement to rescue apps that save money and divert perfectly good items from the garbage can, food waste is a hot topic. As the findings of the recently released UN Food Waste Index Report 2024 make clear, just because we’re aware of the problem doesn’t mean it’s going away.
A third of the world faces food insecurity, yet, at the same time, one-fifth of all food goes to waste — and it’s not just a “rich country” problem. According to the report, which tracks the progress of countries halving food waste by 2030, most of the world’s food waste comes from households where at least one billion meals are thrown away every day.
“Food waste is a global tragedy. Millions will go hungry today as food is wasted across the world,” said Inger Andersen, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) executive director, adding that it has far-reaching effects impacting biodiversity loss, climate change, the global economy and pollution.
Since the inaugural 2021 edition of the report, the gap between high-income, upper-middle income and lower-middle income countries has narrowed. The report revealed that the average levels of household food waste now differ by just seven kilograms per capita per year. There is, however, an urban-rural divide.
Food waste is a global tragedy. Millions will go hungry today as food is wasted across the world.
The report, released in advance of the International Day of Zero Waste on March 30, found that people living in rural areas in middle-income countries are wasting less, offering the possible explanation that people in the countryside feed food scraps to pets or livestock and engage in home composting. Given this finding, the authors recommend focusing on food waste reduction and composting in cities.
Food is squandered at many points along the chain, but most waste happens at home. Household food waste totals 631 million tonnes, 60 per cent of the total food lost; 290 million tonnes is wasted at restaurants and other food-service outlets, and 131 million tonnes at retailers. An estimated 13 per cent is lost at different points in the supply chain, occurring between harvest and point of sale.
“It is a travesty,” co-author Clementine O’Connor, the program management officer at UNEP, told The Associated Press. “It doesn’t make any sense, and it is a complicated problem, but through collaboration and systemic action, it is one that can be tackled.”
According to the report, Canadian households, food service outlets and retailers are responsible for 79, 80 and 30 kilograms of food waste per capita per year, which, for the sake of North American comparison, outpaces the United States at all levels (73, 74 and 12, respectively).
Harriet Lamb, chief executive of the U.K. non-profit organization WRAP, co-author of the report, urged countries to set plans in motion, telling The Guardian, “We need greater coordinated action across continents and supply chains. Whether philanthropic, business or governmental, actors must rally behind programs addressing the enormous impact wasting food has on food security, our climate and our wallets.”
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