Food Waste – Causes, Effects, and Solutions

Scientists, activists, and consumers are working together to find ways and means to stem food wastage which poses a complex problem because of the associated social, economic, and environmental costs. The paradox is that there is a great emphasis on improving agriculture to enhance food security, but one-third of the food produced is wasted. The wastage, according to a report published by the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in 2013, amounts to 1.6 billion tons annually. The aim of this post is to throw some light on the causes, effects, and solutions available for reducing food waste. 

Food Waste – Causes

A lack of proper planning on the part of the consumers is by far the top cause of food wastage. People buy a lot of food items but do not make any plans on how and when the food will be prepared and consumed. Sometimes, they purchase and prepare too much food. Other causes include the following:

Errors in food processing and adherence to food safety policies; food items that do not comply with set standards are wasted.

Improper management, non-availability of adequate finances, and technical incompetence in harvesting methods, storage and processing, packaging, and marketing systems result in wastage.

Over-preparation in hotels, restaurants, and the food-service industry as a whole.

Over-merchandizing by supermarkets and food stores; over-ordering by consumers.

Behavior of consumers

Food Waste – Effects

Food wastage is responsible for the loss of biodiversity. To maximize agricultural yields, forests have been extensively invaded by farmers. This has resulted in the destruction of the natural habitats of birds, mammals, fish, and amphibians. There are several other adverse effects as well because of food wastage. They include:

Loss of one-third of fertile land areas around the world

Wastage of an immense amount of water used for cultivation leads to an increase in Blue Water Footprint; When 30 percent of food is wasted, 30 percent of freshwater also gets wasted.

An increase in carbon footprint and speeding up of climate change; Estimates show food wastage contributes to the greenhouse gas emission of 3.3 billion tons.

Apart from environmental impact, food wastage adds to economic costs; Economic loss caused by food wastage is approximately $750 billion per annum.

Food Waste – Solutions

In order to reduce food wastage, a balance has to be established between production and demand. The utilization of natural resources for food production should be reduced and tools for risk management should be developed to help hotels, restaurants, and the food industry. Other options include:

Development of technologies monitoring harvesting, production, storage, and distribution of agricultural produce.

Supermarkets, big restaurants, retail food outlets, and individual consumers must be encouraged to reduce food footprint; For example, excess food available at restaurants and retail food outlets could be given to the needy for free or at a reduced price; a mobile app that allows people to search using the phrase “free food take away near me” would be of great help

Farmers and food retailers can make use of mobile apps such as the best app to sell farm products online and cheapest food delivery app that are available these days to reduce food footprint

About FoodPulsar

FoodPulsar is India’s first platform for sharing food. The platform enables you to socially share food. It works as a social food hub. The first of its kind food-sharing platform helps you to reduce food wastage.