The latest United Nations report shows that in 2022, the world wasted 1.05 billion tons of food, equivalent to 1/5 of the food while 800 million people were hungry.
This rate is even greater if you factor in the 13% of food lost during transport from farm to fork.
The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) Food Waste Index 2024 raises the issue of food distribution as waste contributing to climate change. "Food waste is a global tragedy while millions of people go hungry," said Inger Andersen, director of UNEP.
Food waste in London, UK. Photo: CNN
The report distinguishes between “lost food”, food such as rotten vegetables and spoiled meat that is discarded early in the supply chain, and wasted food thrown away by households, restaurants and stores.
Households wasted 631 million tonnes of food in 2022, accounting for 60% of the total while the food service industry accounted for 28% of the waste and retail 12%.
The average person wastes 79kg of food each year, which means at least a billion meals are wasted in household every day. It accounts for 8-10% of global warming emissions, five times more than the aviation industry.
Food requires raw materials and fuel to reach the finished product, including land, water and processing systems. Most of the wasted food ends up in landfills, where when it decomposes, it creates methane gas (CH4), causing the greenhouse effect.
The report says that the problem of food waste is more serious in tropical countries because high temperatures make food preservation and transportation difficult and perishable.
Contrary to the popular belief that waste is mainly a problem in the rich world, the UN report found that the amount of food thrown away in high-income and middle-income countries differs by just 7kg per capita.
Ngoc Ngan (According to CNN )
Source
Comment (0)