essay on how to reduce food waste

7 simple steps we can all take to reduce food waste

1.3 billion tonnes of food is thrown away each year. Image:  Unsplsah

.chakra .wef-1c7l3mo{-webkit-transition:all 0.15s ease-out;transition:all 0.15s ease-out;cursor:pointer;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;outline:none;color:inherit;}.chakra .wef-1c7l3mo:hover,.chakra .wef-1c7l3mo[data-hover]{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;}.chakra .wef-1c7l3mo:focus,.chakra .wef-1c7l3mo[data-focus]{box-shadow:0 0 0 3px rgba(168,203,251,0.5);} Andy Dunn

.chakra .wef-9dduvl{margin-top:16px;margin-bottom:16px;line-height:1.388;font-size:1.25rem;}@media screen and (min-width:56.5rem){.chakra .wef-9dduvl{font-size:1.125rem;}} Explore and monitor how .chakra .wef-15eoq1r{margin-top:16px;margin-bottom:16px;line-height:1.388;font-size:1.25rem;color:#F7DB5E;}@media screen and (min-width:56.5rem){.chakra .wef-15eoq1r{font-size:1.125rem;}} Food Security is affecting economies, industries and global issues

.chakra .wef-1nk5u5d{margin-top:16px;margin-bottom:16px;line-height:1.388;color:#2846F8;font-size:1.25rem;}@media screen and (min-width:56.5rem){.chakra .wef-1nk5u5d{font-size:1.125rem;}} Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale

Stay up to date:, food security.

• Millions of people worldwide suffer from malnutrition, yet 1.3 billion tonnes of food is thrown away each year.
• The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization has put out a list of simple yet effective ways we can all reduce food waste.
• From buying ‘ugly’ fruit and vegetables to rearranging your fridge.

Most people at some time have bought too much food during weekly shopping and been left with rotting vegetables at the bottom of the fridge.

But what many don’t realize is the scale of the problem: each year, around 1.3 billion tonnes of food produced for human consumption – enough to feed those going hungry worldwide – is thrown away.

Food crises were identified as a significant risk in this year’s World Economic Forum Global Risks Report.

The situation has been further exacerbated by the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, which closed restaurants and disrupted supply chains.

The First International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste next month (29 September) will make a clear call to action to bolster efforts to reduce food loss and waste. With millions suffering malnutrition , the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has put out a list of simple, yet sensible, steps we can all take to change our habits:

1) Buy only what you need. Make a list and stick to it.

2) Don’t be prejudiced. Purchase ‘ugly’ or irregularly shaped fruit and vegetables that are just as good but look a little different.

3) Check your fridge. Store food between 1-5°C for maximum freshness and shelf-life.

4) First in, first out. When you stack up your fridge and cupboards, move older products to the front and place newer ones in the back.

5) Understand dates. ‘Use by’ indicates a date by which the food is safe to be eaten, while ‘best before’ means the food’s quality is best prior to that date, but it is still safe to eat after that date.

6) Leave nothing behind. Keep leftovers for another meal or use them in a different dish.

7) Donate any surplus to others.

A 2018 study forecast that by 2030, food waste could have soared by a third , with more than 2 billion tonnes being binned. The UN, meanwhile, has set a target of halving food loss and waste by that date .

Don't miss any update on this topic

Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.

License and Republishing

World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

Related topics:

The agenda .chakra .wef-n7bacu{margin-top:16px;margin-bottom:16px;line-height:1.388;font-weight:400;} weekly.

A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda

.chakra .wef-1dtnjt5{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;-webkit-flex-wrap:wrap;-ms-flex-wrap:wrap;flex-wrap:wrap;} More on Food Security .chakra .wef-17xejub{-webkit-flex:1;-ms-flex:1;flex:1;justify-self:stretch;-webkit-align-self:stretch;-ms-flex-item-align:stretch;align-self:stretch;} .chakra .wef-nr1rr4{display:-webkit-inline-box;display:-webkit-inline-flex;display:-ms-inline-flexbox;display:inline-flex;white-space:normal;vertical-align:middle;text-transform:uppercase;font-size:0.75rem;border-radius:0.25rem;font-weight:700;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;line-height:1.2;-webkit-letter-spacing:1.25px;-moz-letter-spacing:1.25px;-ms-letter-spacing:1.25px;letter-spacing:1.25px;background:none;padding:0px;color:#B3B3B3;-webkit-box-decoration-break:clone;box-decoration-break:clone;-webkit-box-decoration-break:clone;}@media screen and (min-width:37.5rem){.chakra .wef-nr1rr4{font-size:0.875rem;}}@media screen and (min-width:56.5rem){.chakra .wef-nr1rr4{font-size:1rem;}} See all

Food security: Can war-torn Sudan recover and help address the global food crisis?

Brian D’Silva and Abir Ibrahim

March 19, 2024

How cities can have an impact on healthier food options

Joneigh Khaldun

February 16, 2024

Extreme weather is driving food prices higher. These 5 crops are facing the biggest impacts

Charlotte Edmond and Rebecca Geldard

February 12, 2024

How mining could help scale up global food production

Iliass El Fali

February 5, 2024

This is what data tells us about transforming our food

Thea de Gallier

February 2, 2024

Why CO2 could be an unlikely ally in future food production

Ester Baiget and Mads Krogsgaard Thomsen

January 18, 2024

An official website of the United States government

Here’s how you know

Official websites use .gov A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS A lock ( Lock A locked padlock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

JavaScript appears to be disabled on this computer. Please click here to see any active alerts .

Preventing Wasted Food At Home

Most people don't realize how much food they throw away every day — from uneaten leftovers to spoiled produce to parts of fruits and vegetables that could be eaten or repurposed.

One-third of all food in the United States goes uneaten. EPA estimates that in 2019, about 96 percent of households' wasted food ended up in landfills, combustion facilities, or down the drain to the sewer system. The remainder was composted. 1

Preventing food from going to waste is one of the easiest and most powerful actions you can take to save money and lower your climate change footprint by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and conserving natural resources.

On this page:

Benefits of Preventing Wasted Food at Home

Planning and shopping tips, storage tips, cooking and preparation tips.

• Toolkits for Your Community and Your Home

If You Can't Reduce Wasted Food, Divert It From Landfills

• Sources of Statistics

• Save money  by buying only what you need, eating what you buy, and avoiding throwing away food. The average family of four spends $1,500 per year on food that does not get eaten .
• Conserve resources and energy . When food is wasted, the land, water, energy, and other inputs that are used in producing, processing, transporting, preparing, storing, and disposing the food are wasted as well.
• Reduce GHG emissions.  More than 85 percent of GHG emissions from landfilled food waste result from activities prior to food entering a landfill, including the production, transport, processing, and distribution of food. 2  Plus, when food decomposes in a landfill, methane, a potent greenhouse gas, is emitted.  Municipal solid waste landfills are the third-largest source of human-related methane emissions in the U.S.  and food waste is responsible for 58% of landfill emissions. 3

Ways to Prevent Wasted Food at Home

Helpful links.

Save The Food :

• Planning Tools (including the Guest-imator , Meal Prep Mate , and other tips)
• Recipes , and
• An Interactive Storage Guide .

Natural Resources Defense Council Infographic- The Refrigerator Demystified (pdf)

LeanPath Infographic- 10 Tips and Tricks to Help Reduce Food Waste at Home (pdf)

The Scraps Book- A Waste-Less Cookbook (pdf)

Planning, prepping, and storing food can help your household waste less food. Below are some tips to help you do just that:

Making a list with weekly meals in mind can save you money and time.  If you only buy what you expect to use, you will be more likely to eat it all.

• Keep a running list of meals and their ingredients that your household already enjoys - that way, you can easily choose, shop for, and prepare meals that you are likely to consume.
• Look in your refrigerator, freezer, and pantry first to avoid buying food you already have. Make a list each week of what needs to be used up and plan upcoming meals around it.
• Plan your meals for the week before you go shopping and buy only the things needed for those meals.
• Make your shopping list based on how many meals you’ll eat at home. Consider how often you will eat out, if you plan to eat frozen precooked meals, and if you will eat leftovers for any of your meals.
• Include quantities on your shopping list noting how many meals you’ll make with each item to avoid overbuying. For example: “salad greens - enough for two lunches”.
• Buying in large quantities (e.g., buy one, get one free deals) only saves money if you use all the food before it spoils.

• Purchase imperfect produce or upcycled products. Imperfect produce may have physical imperfections but is just as safe and nutritious and can sometimes be found at discounted prices. Upcycled products are made from ingredients that might have otherwise gone to waste.
• Most veggies, especially those that could wilt (such as leafy greens, carrots, cucumbers, and broccoli) should go in the high humidity drawer of the fridge.
• Most fruits, as well as vegetables that tend to rot (such as mushrooms and peppers), should go in the low humidity drawer of the fridge.
• Some fruits (such as bananas, apples, pears, stone fruits, and avocados) release ethylene gas as they ripen, making other nearby produce ripen, and potentially spoil, faster. Store these away from other produce.
• Wait to wash berries, cherries, and grapes until you’re ready to eat them to prevent mold.
• Some produce, such as potatoes, eggplant, winter squash, onions, and garlic, should be stored in a cool, dry, dark, and well-ventilated place.
• The refrigerator door is the warmest part of the fridge. You can store condiments there, but it is not recommended to store milk or eggs in the door.
• The lower shelves are the coldest part of the fridge. Store meat, poultry, and fish here.
• Refrigerators should be set to maintain a temperature of 40 °F or below.
• Store grains in airtight containers and label containers with contents and the dates.
• Befriend your freezer and visit it often. Freeze food such as bread, sliced fruit, meat, or leftovers that you know won’t be eaten in time. Label with the contents and dates.

• Produce that is past its prime, as well as odds and ends of ingredients and leftovers, may still be fine for cooking. Repurpose these ingredients in soups, casseroles, stir fries, frittatas, sauces, baked goods, pancakes, or smoothies. You’ll avoid wasting these items and may even create new favorite dishes.
• If safe and healthy, use the edible parts of food that you normally do not eat. For example, stale bread can be used to make French Toast or croutons, beet greens can be sautéed for a delicious side dish, and vegetable scraps can be used for soup stock.
• Learn the difference between  “sell-by,” “use-by,” “best-by,” and expiration dates .
• Aim to cook and serve the right portions for the number of people you are feeding .
• Freeze, pickle, dehydrate, can, or make jam/jelly from surplus fruits and vegetables - especially abundant seasonal produce.
• Don’t leave perishable food at room temperature for more than two hours.
• Refrigerate or freeze any leftovers in clear, labeled containers with dates.

Toolkits for Your Home and Your Community

EPA developed two social marketing campaign toolkits for preventing food waste in your community and at home.  

"The Preventing Wasted Food in Your Community: A Social Marketing Toolkit"  is a resource for states, territories, local governments, Tribes, and nongovernmental organizations who want to start a behavior change campaign to prevent food waste in their communities. It is designed to be used by governments and NGOs to help people reduce wasted food in the home. The toolkit includes a planning process that uses social marketing principles to ensure communities are tailoring campaigns to their individual needs.

The toolkit walks you through the steps to design a behavior change campaign in your community. It moves beyond an education/awareness campaign by identifying barriers people face in reducing their food waste and highlighting motivators that help overcome those barriers. The toolkit offers an implementation and evaluation plan. It also includes wasted food prevention campaign materials created by municipalities and organizations that are available for use and customization by any community. 

The Food: Too Good to Waste Toolkit will help you figure out how much food is really going to waste in your home and what you can do to waste less. By making small shifts in how you shop for, prepare, and store food, you can save time and money. It can also keep the valuable resources used to produce and distribute food from going to waste!

Food: Too Good to Waste also contains an Implementation Guide that is designed to teach local governments and community organizations how to implement a Food: Too Good to Waste campaign in their community using the Toolkit.

• Nutritious, safe, and untouched food can be donated to food banks to help those in need.
• Compost food scraps rather than throwing them away.  Learn more through this infographic on composting (pdf) .

Composting Food Scraps in Your Community: A Social Marketing Toolkit

If you are with a state, territorial, or local government, Tribe, or another organization that wishes to create composting campaigns, check out our  "Composting Food Scraps in Your Community: A Social Marketing Toolkit."  This toolkit is for communities that wants to:

• launch new food scrap composting programs,
• increase participation in existing food scrap composting programs, or
• reduce contamination in their compost collection streams.

It is designed to assist agencies that offer curbside collection or drop-off locations for residential food scraps. The toolkit includes a planning process that uses social marketing principles to ensure campaigns are tailored to their community's needs.

U.S. Department of Agriculture:

Information for Consumers

Infographic- Easy Steps to Prevent Food Waste ( English , Chinese (pdf) , Spanish (pdf) )

Video- Tips to Reduce Food Waste at Home

Video- Plan Ahead to Reduce Food Waste ( English , Spanish )

Video- Serve Smart to Reduce Food Waste ( English , Spanish )

Video- Love Your Leftovers to Reduce Food Waste ( English , Spanish )

MyPlate- Meal Planning

Refrigeration and Food Safety

FoodKeeper App

U.S. Food and Drug Administration:

How to Cut Food Waste and Maintain Food Safety

Date Labels on Packaged Foods Infographic

Tips to Reduce Food Waste (including three infographics)

Food Waste Facts Infographic

Animated Videos with Information on:

• Tips to reduce food waste.
• Understanding date labels on packaged foods.
• The impact of food waste.
• Imperfect produce.

Sources  of Statistics

• Estimated from: U.S. EPA, 2019 Wasted Food Report (pdf) , 2023.
• Estimated from: U.S. EPA,  Documentation for Greenhouse Gas Emission and Energy Factors Used in the Waste Reduction Model Organic Materials Chapters (pdf) , 2020.
• U.S. EPA, Quantifying Methane Emissions from Landfilled Food Waste (pdf), 2023
• Recycle Home
• Reduce and Reuse Basics
• Recycling Basics and Benefits
• Frequent Questions on Recycling
• How Do I Recycle...
• What You Can Do
• Used Electronics
• Used Batteries
• Food Waste Prevention
• Composting at Home
• Students and Educators

• Ways to Give
• Contact an Expert
• Explore WRI Perspectives

Filter Your Site Experience by Topic

Applying the filters below will filter all articles, data, insights and projects by the topic area you select.

• All Topics Remove filter
• Climate filter site by Climate
• Cities filter site by Cities
• Energy filter site by Energy
• Food filter site by Food
• Forests filter site by Forests
• Freshwater filter site by Freshwater
• Ocean filter site by Ocean
• Business filter site by Business
• Economics filter site by Economics
• Finance filter site by Finance
• Equity & Governance filter site by Equity & Governance

Search WRI.org

Not sure where to find something? Search all of the site's content.

The Global Benefits of Reducing Food Loss and Waste, and How to Do It

• Food Loss and Waste
• food security

One-third of all food produced globally by weight is lost or wasted between farm and fork — that's  more than 1 billion tonnes . Converted into calories, this equates to 24% of the world’s food supply going uneaten. At the same time,  1 in 10 people globally remain malnourished.

This scale of food loss and waste harms not only human health and nutrition but also economies and the environment. Wasted food takes a major financial toll, costing the global economy more than $1 trillion every year. It also fuels climate change, accounting for approximately 8%-10% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

And if current trends persist, food loss and waste will double by 2050.

Here, we delve into the scope of this challenge and the global benefits of reducing food loss and waste, as well as solutions at the individual, local and national levels.

What Causes Food Loss and Waste?

While food loss and food waste are often talked about together, these terms encompass different issues throughout the food system. Food loss refers to loss at or near the farm and in the supply chain, for example, during harvesting, storage or transport. Food waste occurs at the retail level, in hospitality and in households.

Food loss and waste are caused by a wide range of issues, from technological challenges to consumer behaviors. Some common drivers of food loss include:

• Inadequate technology : Poor infrastructure, such as roads that flood or are hard to travel consistently, can prevent food from making it from farm to table. Lack of cold storage is another major concern for ensuring food can arrive fresh to markets. Farmers may also struggle with inadequate equipment such as old or inefficient machinery that makes it difficult to harvest all of a crop.
• Suboptimal packaging : How foods are packaged can make a big difference in the length of time they stay safe to eat. Many people are justly concerned about the environmental impacts of excessive packaging, but it’s important to remember that correct packaging can help foods stay fresher for longer, thereby reducing spoilage and the associated  methane emissions  that result from wasted food. An underappreciated fact is that the environmental impact of wasted food is greater than that of packaging waste. So, while it’s important to limit this waste, it’s also important to use correct packaging to reduce food spoilage.

Some common reasons for food waste include:

• Poor food management : Examples include insufficient skills and knowledge among staff who prepare food, which can lead to unnecessary waste during cooking, and inflexible procurement requirements such as retailers only stocking perfect-looking produce or not accepting a farmer’s oversupply of crop. Food waste can also occur when retailers and food providers do not adequately forecast and plan for demand to meet supply (or vice versa).
• Consumer behaviors : Households account for the majority of food wasted at the consumer and retail level. This often results from a lack of awareness of the scale of the issue and insufficient education about how to properly use up and store food at home. Food waste also stems from  norms and attitudes  that say wasting food is normal, as well as concerns about possible risks of eating food past its sell-by or use-by date label.

There used to be a view that food waste, which happens at the consumer level, tended to be more of a developed country problem while food loss, which can arise from issues in farming and supply chains, was a greater problem in developing countries. But recent research has shown this isn’t true.

Work by the  UN Environment Programme  shows that food waste occurs at roughly the same level in middle-income countries as in high-income countries. Good-quality data is still limited, but there is a reasonable amount of information to back up this conclusion. Similarly, recent work by the  World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF)  concluded that food loss on farms is a problem in high-income countries as well as middle- and lower-income countries. These recent studies show that both issues must be addressed on a global scale.

The Global Benefits of Reducing Food Loss and Waste

The  UN’s Sustainable Development Goals  include a call to halve food waste and reduce food losses by 2030 for good reason. Reducing food loss and waste generates benefits for economies, for businesses and consumers, for human health and for the environment.

Improved global nutrition and food security

Reducing food loss and waste can play a big role in providing a healthy, nutritious diet to a growing global population. Not only does one third of all food produced by volume go uneaten, but perishable foods with higher nutritional value, such as fruit and vegetables, are particularly prone to loss and waste: More than 40% of produce by weight is lost or wasted worldwide each year. Ensuring more of the global food supply is used to feed people, rather than perishing or ending up in landfills, is an important strategy for addressing hunger in a world where hundreds of millions still face malnutrition.

Reduced greenhouse gas emissions

Project Drawdown  has listed reducing food loss and waste as the single-best strategy for reducing emissions and fighting the climate crisis. Because up to 10% of global emissions result from food loss and waste, it’s simply not possible to achieve the Paris Agreement’s goal to stay within 1.5-2 degrees C (2.7-3.6 degrees F) of warming without tackling this issue.

Emissions from food loss and waste result from the energy and inputs used to produce food that’s ultimately not consumed, as well as the methane that’s emitted when food rots in fields or landfills. Although shorter lived than carbon dioxide, methane is an especially potent greenhouse gas with over  80 times the warming power  of CO2. By reducing food loss and waste, we avoid its associated planet-warming emissions.

Improving existing food systems  will also help the world feed more people without expanding cultivated areas. Agricultural expansion is a major driver of greenhouse gas emission s and often results in deforestation, which releases stored carbon dioxide and lowers the land’s carbon storage capacity. In addition, increasing the efficiency of food production could potentially liberate agricultural land for reforestation, an important way to  remove carbon  from the atmosphere. 

WRI has identified alleviating land use pressures — through efforts like reducing the need to produce more food to compensate for loss and waste — as a key strategy to address  the global land squeeze .

Financial savings for businesses and consumers and increased financial security for farmers

Reducing consumer food waste by even 20%-25% by 2030 could save the world an estimated  $120-$300 billion  per year. These savings play out on an individual level as well as a systemic one; by consuming more of what they purchase, households can reduce their overall spending on food. Eliminating avoidable food waste would save the average family in the United Kingdom more than £700 ($870) each year, while in the United States, the average family would save approximately $1,800.

Reducing food losses — especially post-harvest losses, including food that’s grown but never makes it to market — will also improve farmers’ incomes.

Without the resources to buy up-to-date equipment, many farmers must rely on manual approaches or old, broken equipment that limits their potential yields. Targeted loans and financing can help these farmers buy better equipment, allowing them to harvest more and better-quality crops in a shorter amount of time. The efficiency savings may then lead to higher income. In addition, many smallholder farmers are women who would especially benefit from access to finance and new equipment; reduced food losses could mean they are better positioned to feed, educate and care for their families.

How to Reduce Food Loss and Waste at a Systemic Level

Because food loss and waste happen at every stage of the supply chain, everyone has a vital role to play in addressing this issue.

Households can reduce food waste by focusing on smart shopping and food storage. Some strategies include writing a shopping list, planning meals so that when you go shopping you know what and how much you need, understanding the difference between use-by and best-by date labels, making sure your fridge is set to the optimal temperature, understanding how best to store different foods and making the most of your freezer for leftovers.

Restaurants

Restaurants can reduce food waste by monitoring and managing food usage and ordering. Strategies include measuring food waste in the kitchen to understand what foods are being wasted and designing a fix, engaging staff to understand the importance of minimizing waste, avoiding super-sized portions, and focusing on a smaller range of menu offerings in order to better forecast supply ordering.

In September 2022, Ingka Group, IKEA’s largest retailer, became the  world’s first major company  to cut food waste in half, having done so across all its IKEA restaurants in 32 markets. Such savings can also bring financial benefits for restaurants, with the average restaurant examined in a Champions 12.3 study saving  $7 for every $1 invested  in programs to combat food waste.

Retailers can reduce food waste by improving stocking and food handling practices. Strategies include measuring the amounts and types of food being wasted to identify hotspots that can be reduced; training staff in temperature management, product handling and stock rotation; accepting less-than-perfect looking produce; and educating customers about better food management — for example, how to meal plan and understand date labels, and tips for safe food handling at home.

Many retailers in the UK now include storage advice on food packs (such as “Store in the fridge”) and give customers menu cards with ideas for cooking the produce or foods they purchase. Some are also removing “Best before” date labels from fruit and vegetables, which can help consumers avoid throwing away food that is still perfectly edible. Retailers are explicitly telling customers that these measures are intended to reduce waste and encouraging people to use their senses to tell if food is still good to eat.

Food producers

Farmers, ranchers and fishers can reduce food losses by improving farming practices; for example, by ensuring produce is harvested at the right maturity and using appropriate harvesting equipment to maximize yield while minimizing crop damage. They can also improve their skills or use tools to better schedule harvesting, including accessing better data on weather via new apps like  Mausam  (which is published by India's Ministry of Earth Sciences). And they can engage customers such as wholesale retailers to communicate implications of order changes.

Food distributers

Packing, storage and distribution facilities can reduce food loss and waste by re-examining handling, storage and transportation to ensure adoption of best practices and reduce damage. They can also use technological interventions to optimize the transport of food, and work upstream with customers to provide planning tools and handling and storage technologies that help them reduce losses.

For example, bar coding is being used to track food’s transportation journey, so managers can know where a product has been, for how long, and in what temperatures and conditions. This allows retailers to more accurately label and handle food to maximize shelf life, while also providing traceability in the event of a recall.

Processors and manufacturers

Processors and manufacturers can reduce food loss and waste by implementing technical solutions in the supply chain. Strategies include improving training to reduce technical malfunctions and errors during processing, reengineering production processes and product design to reduce waste, using product sizes and packaging that reduce waste by consumers and standardizing date labels to reduce confusion.

Governments and policymakers

Governments and policymakers can reduce food loss and waste through educational programs, policies and financial incentives that support more efficient food production and distribution. For example, they can embed food loss awareness, technical assistance and financial aid into agricultural extension services and farmer subsidy programs.

Governments can also promote policies to prevent unfair trading practices (such as last-minute order cancellations and unilateral or retroactive changes to contracts); remove barriers to food redistribution via policies such as liability limitations and tax breaks, which make it easier for food suppliers to donate safe but unsold food to charities or those in need; and support policies to standardize food date labelling practices to reduce confusion about product safety and quality and improve consumer understanding of the meaning of date labels. Finally, governments can make measurement and reporting of food loss and waste by large companies mandatory to facilitate benchmarking, transparency and learning.

Learn more about WRI’s work  Fighting Food Loss and Waste .

Relevant Work

We’ve woken up to plastic waste. is food waste next, 3 things to think about before buying your thanksgiving turkey, 4 surprising reasons to measure and reduce food loss and waste, can we really cut food waste in half, how you can help.

WRI relies on the generosity of donors like you to turn research into action. You can support our work by making a gift today or exploring other ways to give.

Stay Informed

World Resources Institute 10 G Street NE Suite 800 Washington DC 20002 +1 (202) 729-7600

© 2024 World Resources Institute

Join our live presentation on Jan 23rd as we present four stories that will shape 2024, followed by a live Q&A.

Together, we can unleash the positive, tangible and system-wide transformations needed to protect our planet for this and future generations.

• Skip to main content
• Skip to FDA Search
• Skip to in this section menu
• Skip to footer links

The .gov means it’s official. Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you're on a federal government site.

The site is secure. The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

U.S. Food and Drug Administration

•   Search
•   Menu
• Resources for You (Food)

Tips to Reduce Food Waste

PDF (1.25MB)

en Español (PDF: 764.45KB)

We can all play a part in reaching the national food waste reduction goal – to reduce food waste by 50% by the year 2030 . Start using these tips today to reduce food waste, save money, and protect the environment.

Additional Food Waste Tips

Reduce Food Waste at the Store or When Dining Out

Reduce Food Waste in the Kitchen

Reduce Food Waste at Home

At the Grocery Store or When Eating Out

• Preplan and write your shopping list before going to the grocery store. As you write your list, think about what meals you will be preparing the following week, and check your fridge to see what items you already have.
• When at the store, buy only what you need and stick to your shopping list. Be careful when buying in bulk, especially with items that have a limited shelf life.
• If available, purchase “ugly” fruits or vegetables that often get left behind at the grocery store but are safe to eat. “Ugly” produce has physical imperfections but are not damaged or rotten. “Ugly” fruits and vegetables are safe and nutritious and can sometimes be found at discounted prices.
• When eating out, ask for smaller portions to prevent plate waste and keep you from overeating. You can also request a take-away box to take leftovers home instead of leaving food on your plate.

In the Kitchen - Storage and Prep

• Check the temperature setting of your fridge. Keep the temperature at 40° F or below to keep foods safe . The temperature of your freezer should be 0° F.
• Use the FoodKeeper App for information on how to safely store different foods to maintain freshness and quality.
• Refrigerate peeled or cut veggies for freshness and to keep them from going bad.
• Use your freezer! Freezing is a great way to store most foods to keep them from going bad until you are ready to eat them. Check the FoodKeeper App for information on how long different items can be stored in the freezer.
• Create a designated space in your fridge for foods that you think will be going bad within a few days.
• Check your fridge often to keep track of what you have and what needs to be used. Eat or freeze items before you need to throw them away.
• If you have more food on hand than you can use or you need, consider donating your extra supply of packaged foods to a local food pantry or a food drive.

Except for infant formula, manufacturers are not required by Federal law or regulation to place quality-based date labels on packaged food.

There are no uniform or universally accepted descriptions used on food labels for open dating (calendar dates) in the United States. As a result, there are a wide variety of phrases used for product dating.

FDA supports efforts by the food industry to make “ Best if Used By ” the standard phrase to indicate the date when a product will be at its best flavor and quality. Consumers should examine foods for signs of spoilage that are past their “Best if used by” date. If the products have changed noticeably in color, consistency or texture, consumers may want to avoid eating them. If you have questions or concerns about the quality, safety and labeling of the packaged foods you buy, you are encouraged to reach out to the company that produced the product. Many packaged foods provide the company’s contact information on the package.

Manufacturers apply date labels at their own discretion and for a variety of reasons. The most common is to inform consumers and retailers of the date to which they can expect the food to retain its desired quality and flavor.

Industry is moving toward more uniform practices for date labeling of packaged foods. But, for now, consumers may see different phrases used for product dating, such as Sell By, Best By, Expires on, etc.

At Home: Cooking, Serving and Enjoying Food with Family and Friends

• Use “ugly” fruits or vegetables to whip up healthy smoothies and soups for your friends or family . No one will notice the difference!
• Be creative and have fun! Create new dishes and snacks with leftovers or items you think will go bad if not eaten soon. Have a cook off to find out who can come up with the best dish.
• Follow the 2-Hour Rule. For safety reasons, don’t leave perishables out at room temperature for more than two hours, unless you're keeping it hot or cold. If the temperature is above 90° F, food shouldn’t be left out for more than one hour. Also, remember to refrigerate leftovers within two hours.
• Use serving size information on the Nutrition Facts label to help you portion meals or snacks. You can always add more to your plate after finishing off the first helping.
• Prepared too much food for a party at your home? Pack extras in containers for guests to take home or take some over to a neighbor as a nice gesture.
• Have a friendly competition with your friends or family members to see who can go the longest without any food waste.

• About FoodPrint
• Deep-Dive Reports
• Stay Informed

The FoodPrint Guide to Reducing Food Waste

by FoodPrint

Published: 5/17/21, Last updated: 10/07/21

The ABCs of Reducing Food Waste

Food waste is an enormous problem in the US: America wastes roughly 40 percent of its food , which leads to pollution and other environmental damage, and is a waste of natural resources and a waste of money. While edible food is lost at every point along the food chain — on farms and fishing boats, during processing and distribution, in retail stores, in restaurants and more — as consumers, we are responsible for the largest percentage of all food waste. Approximately 40 to 50 percent of food waste in the US happens at the consumer level, and a typical US consumer wastes 238 pounds of food per year (21 percent of the food they buy), costing them $1,800 per year.

Along with the personal financial cost, that uneaten food leads to a waste of valuable resources, like water and farmland; wasted energy; wasted food packaging; and more. Wasted food ends up in landfills, where it emits methane, a powerful greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change, and food waste is among the leading causes of freshwater pollution.

So, the question is, how do we reduce food waste?

The answer might seem simple: don’t let food spoil, right? But food waste happens in a bunch of different ways: You go out to eat and don’t love the meal you ordered, leaving the majority on your plate to get scraped into the garbage. Or you pick up a bag of oranges, and forget about a few in the back of the fridge, where they turn mushy. You cut off the greens of carrots or beets, or peel root vegetables, and not realizing the potential use of these nutrition-packed scraps, you toss them in the trash.

Luckily, learning to reduce your food waste at home is as easy as learning your ABCs. To help you reduce your food waste and save money, we’ve gathered together all of our tips, tricks, recipes and resources in this three-page, interactive, visual guide: the ABCs of Reducing Food Waste. With beautiful illustrations and handy links, this all-in-one guide takes you all the way from meal planning to preserving — and to the compost pile, of course. Making smaller shopping trips ; using leftovers ; learning what date labels really mean ; storing food properly ; and using different preservation methods are all steps to help you cut back on food waste and lower your foodprint.

Ready to start saving food and cutting back on waste? Follow us on social media @FoodPrintOrg, ask questions and share pictures of your success. We can’t wait to see what changes you make.

Top photo by Luigi Bertello/Adobe Stock.

More Reading

9 homemade preserves to gift (or keep) this holiday season.

December 12, 2023

Get creative with these food preservation methods

December 1, 2023

Food scholar Darra Goldstein on the culinary history of preservation

October 30, 2023

The FoodPrint Guide to Freezing

August 3, 2023

6 (Actually Good) Food Waste Ideas From Social Media

July 24, 2023

6 Recipes for Seasonal Drinks Inspired by Summer’s Bounty

June 28, 2023

Leftovers Become Luxurious With Help from “The Everlasting Meal Cookbook”

March 27, 2023

4 Tips for Stretching Your Food Dollars as Prices Continue to Rise

September 30, 2022

Can Legislation in the 2023 Farm Bill Help Tackle Food Waste??

June 15, 2022

Lean on Friends For Help Completing the Reduce Your Foodprint Challenge

January 12, 2022

Essay on How to Reduce Food Waste

Students are often asked to write an essay on How to Reduce Food Waste in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on How to Reduce Food Waste

Understanding food waste.

Food waste is a global issue. It’s when we don’t use food and it gets thrown away. It’s bad for the environment and wastes resources.

Planning Meals

To reduce food waste, plan your meals. Know what you need before shopping. This stops you from buying too much.

Storing Food Properly

Store food correctly. This helps it last longer. Use your freezer, it’s a great tool to preserve food.

Using Leftovers

Don’t throw leftovers. They can be used for new meals. It saves money and reduces waste.

Compost what you can’t eat. It’s good for your garden and reduces waste.

250 Words Essay on How to Reduce Food Waste

Understanding the impact of food waste.

Food waste is a global issue with significant environmental, economic, and social implications. Every year, approximately one-third of all food produced for human consumption is wasted. This not only leads to economic losses but also contributes to deforestation, water scarcity, and greenhouse gas emissions.

Practical Strategies to Reduce Food Waste

The first step to reducing food waste is planning. By creating a detailed meal plan and shopping list, you can avoid buying unnecessary items that could potentially end up in the bin.

Secondly, understanding food labels can help reduce waste. “Sell by”, “use by”, and “best before” dates often lead to confusion, resulting in edible food being discarded.

Technological Innovations

Technological innovations also play a role in reducing food waste. For instance, apps that connect consumers to businesses with surplus food can help divert waste from landfills.

Policy Measures and Education

Policy measures, such as tax incentives for businesses that donate surplus food, can also be effective. Furthermore, education plays a crucial role. By raising awareness about the impact of food waste and teaching practical waste reduction strategies, we can foster a culture of sustainability.

Reducing food waste requires a multi-faceted approach that includes planning, education, policy measures, and technological innovation. By taking steps to reduce waste, we can contribute to a more sustainable and equitable food system.

500 Words Essay on How to Reduce Food Waste

Introduction.

Food waste is an alarming issue that has been escalating globally. It not only contributes to environmental degradation but also represents an economic loss. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), approximately one-third of the food produced for human consumption is wasted or lost. This essay will explore various strategies to mitigate food waste.

Understanding the Problem

The first step towards reducing food waste is understanding its extent and causes. Food waste occurs at all stages of the food supply chain, from agricultural production to household consumption. Factors contributing to food waste include overproduction, poor storage and transportation, market and consumer behaviors, and lack of awareness about food waste implications.

Effective Planning and Purchasing

One of the most effective ways to reduce food waste is by planning meals and grocery shopping responsibly. By creating a detailed meal plan and sticking to a shopping list, consumers can avoid buying excess food that may end up being wasted. Additionally, understanding and correctly interpreting food expiration dates can prevent unnecessary discarding of food that is still safe to eat.

Proper Food Storage

Improper food storage is a significant contributor to food waste. Storing food correctly extends its life, ensuring it can be consumed before it spoils. This involves understanding the optimal storage conditions for different types of food and investing in appropriate storage containers and refrigeration equipment.

Food Waste Recycling

Even with the best efforts, some food waste is inevitable. However, this doesn’t mean it should end up in a landfill. Composting is an effective way to recycle food waste, turning it into nutrient-rich soil that can be used to grow more food. Many municipalities also offer food waste recycling programs that can turn food waste into biofuel or animal feed.

Policy Interventions

On a larger scale, policy interventions can play a crucial role in reducing food waste. Governments and organizations can implement regulations and initiatives to encourage responsible food production, distribution, and consumption. For example, policies could be put in place to incentivize supermarkets to donate unsold food to food banks instead of discarding it.

Education and Awareness

Lastly, raising awareness about the impact of food waste is paramount. Education campaigns can inform the public about the environmental, economic, and social implications of food waste, and provide practical tips for reducing waste. Schools, colleges, and universities can play a significant role in disseminating this information and fostering a culture of waste reduction.

Reducing food waste is a collective responsibility that requires concerted efforts from individuals, businesses, and governments. By understanding the problem, planning and purchasing effectively, storing food properly, recycling food waste, implementing policy interventions, and raising awareness, we can significantly reduce food waste, benefiting both the environment and economy.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

If you’re looking for more, here are essays on other interesting topics:

• Essay on Food Safety
• Essay on Food Contamination
• Essay on World Food Day

Apart from these, you can look at all the essays by clicking here .

Happy studying!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Food Waste Recycling Benefits Essay

Introduction, environmental benefits, soil benefits, health benefits, works cited.

Through the analysis of Gupta and Gangopadhyay, it was noted that food waste was one of the leading preventable contributors towards the sheer amount of trash that winds up in many of the today’s landfills (Gupta and Gangopadhyay, 14). It is defined as preventable since through its very nature as a biodegradable substance; it could be put towards other uses aside from merely being a by-product of human consumption.

Do note though that studies such as those by Kelleher explain that the nitrogen released by food waste is actually a wasted resource that could be put to better aside from merely letting it escape into the atmosphere or letting it languish in a garbage dump (Kelleher, 36). Kelleher explains that nitrogen is an important component in soil health as well as can be utilized as a method of energy production.

Mirabella and Sala describe modern-day landfills as a wasted asset since the amount of food waste that goes into them could be utilized to power homes or develop nutrient-rich soil that could aid in creating vegetable gardens for families or in providing cheap fertilizer for farmers (Mirabella and Sala, 28). It is based on this that this paper will delve issue of nitrogen being released from food waste and how it can be put to better use.

The recycling of food waste has environmental benefits related to the decrease in the amount of garbage in local landfills, protection of underground aquifers as well as ensuring the continued health of the soil (Emerson, 25). The inherent problem with food waste is that it contributes significantly to the amount of pollution found in many of today’s landfills.

Combined with the fact that the tainted liquids from food waste have a very real possibility of getting into local aquifers through the soil, it can be seen that it is necessary to establish some method of addressing such an issue. This can be done through home-based methods of recycling and proper consumption of biological food products. Emerson explains that more than 60% of modern-day processed food goes to waste since it is not properly consumed by grocery shoppers (Emerson, 25).

These products often end up in the landfill after they have passed their expiration date. It is based on this that in order to reduce the amount of food waste in today’s landfills, today’s shoppers should only buy the products that they can consume within the immediate future rather than allow such items to expire within their cupboards.

Since food waste is easily biodegradable, it acts as an effective means of producing a cheap and sustainable fertilizer for households and farms. First and foremost, what must be understood is that the process of decomposition helps to break down food waste into its basic properties, which enables it to be easily absorbed into the soil.

Decomposition not only results in the release of nitrogen, which is a necessary component for creating healthy plants but also helps to create a “mush” like substance that is rich in minerals, vitamins, and healthy bacteria that aids in creating a fertile soil mixture (Comber and Thieme, 1197). Taking these factors into consideration, some of the potential practices that could be implemented to put food waste to good use would be to create compost piles.

A compost pile can be described as a collection of different items that are in the process of decomposition. Through such a process, natural fertilizer has created that aids in the growth of a variety of plant species. As such, in order to decrease the reliance of households and farms alike on artificial fertilizers, it is recommended that a shift towards the use of compost piles is to be implemented.

Not only would this help to reduce the amount of food waste in garbage dumps, but it would also help farmers to save money on the amount of fertilizer and water that they use on their crops.

Some of the benefits that come with recycling food waste come in the form of preventing bad doors from landfills, enabling the creation of natural recycling and promoting the proliferation of beneficial soil-based organisms. One of the problems with allowing the current wasteful practices involving food waste to continue is that it promotes the spread of foul-smelling odors from landfills.

Not only that, farmers often utilize a variety of chemicals in the nutrient mixes that they give to their craps that actually kill beneficial soil-based organisms (Comber and Thieme, 1197). It is based on this that by reducing the amount of food waste the enters into our local ecosystem, we can help to reduce the increase in the size of today’s landfills as well as create a better environment that is more beneficial for soil-based organisms, such as worms, that promote good soil health.

Overall, this paper has shown that food waste is one of the leading preventable contributors towards the sheer amount of trash that winds up in many of today’s landfills. As such, since it is preventable, we should act in limiting its proliferation through recycling and more natural methods of crop fertilization.

Comber, Rob, and Anja Thieme. “Designing Beyond Habit: Opening Space For Improved Recycling And Food Waste Behaviors Through Processes Of Persuasion, Social Influence And Aversive Affect.” Personal & Ubiquitous Computing 17.6 (2013): 1197-1210. Print.

Emerson, Dan. “Federal Agencies Get With The Food Recycling Program.” Biocycle 54.6 (2013): 24-25. Print.

Gupta, Rahul, and Sumita Gupta Gangopadhyay. “Urban Food Security Through Urban Agriculture And Waste Recycling: Some Lessons For India.” Vikalpa: The Journal For Decision Makers 38.3 (2013): 13-22. Print.

Kelleher, Maria. “What Is Waste Food?.” Biocycle 54.8 (2013): 36. Print.

Mirabella, Nadia and Serenella Sala. “Current Options For The Valorization Of Food Manufacturing Waste: A Review.” Journal Of Cleaner Production 65. (2014): 28-41. Print.

• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2023, October 31). Food Waste Recycling Benefits. https://ivypanda.com/essays/decomposing-food-waste/

"Food Waste Recycling Benefits." IvyPanda , 31 Oct. 2023, ivypanda.com/essays/decomposing-food-waste/.

IvyPanda . (2023) 'Food Waste Recycling Benefits'. 31 October.

IvyPanda . 2023. "Food Waste Recycling Benefits." October 31, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/decomposing-food-waste/.

1. IvyPanda . "Food Waste Recycling Benefits." October 31, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/decomposing-food-waste/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Food Waste Recycling Benefits." October 31, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/decomposing-food-waste/.

• Herb Kelleher: Life and Career
• Manager Herbert Kelleher's Leadership Qualities
• Kilauea, Central Valley Aquifers, and Cape Cod
• The Benefits of Composting for Individuals and Communities
• Is Composting Feasible in New York City?
• Saving Our Environment
• “This Compost” Gives Hope and Makes People Think
• What Do You Know About The Biodegradable Plastics
• Garbage Sorting in San Francisco - Environmental Study
• Garbage Pollution
• Natural Resources and the Environment
• Climate Change Impacts on Ocean Life
• New York City Air Pollution Problem
• Marine Parks Concept Overview
• Concrete Slurry Walls Design

THE TOTAL HEALTH EXPERIENCE: EAT, PLAY, LEARN

Join us in the Caribbean for a week-long all-inclusive beach immersion

May 11-18, 2024, Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic

Reducing Food Waste Across the Supply Chain: Statistics & Strategies

Food waste isn’t a new problem, but recent events have highlighted its severity and the role it plays in the effort to create sustainable food systems. As impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic send ripples through the global supply chain, producers, retailers, and consumers are becoming more aware of the need to address wasteful practices .

What’s the real impact of food waste?

Food waste has wide-reaching effects from one end of the supply chain to the other:

• Farmers lose income on foods they can’t sell
• Fuel is wasted transporting food that spoils as it travels
• Retailers experience significant losses on unsold items [1]

Waste early on in the supply chain—during production, processing, or transportation—is known as food loss , whereas food waste includes the food retailers and consumers throw away. [2] Regardless of where it occurs, the impact is nothing short of devastating.

United States Food Waste by the Numbers

Between 30% and 40% of the entire US food supply is wasted every year. According to USDA Economic Research Service estimates, 31% of this loss occurs at the retailer or consumer level. [3] Another 40% occurs further up the supply chain, often resulting from: [4]

• Lack of field labor to support full harvests
• Poor storage and care during transportation
• Unnecessarily large orders
• An overemphasis on “attractive” food at the retail level

Overall, Americans waste an average of 80 billion pounds of food per year, amounting to approximately $161 billion in monetary losses. [5]

Global Food Waste Statistics

The picture isn’t much brighter around the world. About one-third of all food produced for people is lost or wasted every year. Some of the biggest contributors to the problem include:

• The United Kingdom, which wastes 32% of all food purchased, or about 6.7 million tons
• Europe, where annual food waste could feed 200 million people
• Africa, where 25% to 50% of food is lost or wasted after harvest
• Fruits and vegetables, of which 40% to 50% are lost or wasted

Average annual loss and waste totals amount to 1.3 billion tons (2.6 trillion pounds) of consumable food. Total monetary losses equate to around $680 billion in industrialized countries and $310 billion in developing nations. [6]

What can be done to reduce food waste?

Addressing major causes of food loss and waste will require significant supply chain reforms and changes in consumer behaviors. Many initiatives are being developed and launched in the United States and around the world to support the following key focus areas.

Increase awareness of…

• Where fresh, local produce can be purchased
• How to prepare all edible parts of plants
• Where excess food can be donated or composted
• Municipal infrastructure required to handle food waste responsibly

Provide education on…

• Proper food storage and preservation
• Meal planning and shopping
• Proper interpretation of “best by/use by” dates [7]
• How to use food that is about to go bad
• Better retail-level stocking, storage, and culling procedures
• Producer-level options for using unsold crops or products
• Local, state, and federal food waste-reduction initiatives

Shorten the food supply chain by…

• Promoting local, regenerative, and sustainable agriculture
• Investing in urban farming and vertical farming opportunities
• Creating food production opportunities in underserved areas (“food deserts”)
• Encouraging partnerships between local farms and businesses

Bring food to the hungry with…

• Donation programs that connect retailers with food pantries, homeless shelters, and city missions
• “Food rescue” initiatives that bring excess food from retailers and restaurants to people in need [8]
• Options for consumers to safely donate unused food items

Create new products using…

• “Ugly” or misshapen produce
• Spent brewery grains
• Leftover fermentation liquid
• Fruit and vegetable pulp discarded after juicing
• Leaves from plants like broccoli and cauliflower

Leverage technology to…

• Track products along the entire supply chain
• Assess quality at the time of harvest and during transportation
• Detect freshness and quality without damaging produce [9]
• Reduce production of the most commonly wasted foods
• Monitor and record food waste trends in the restaurant and hospitality industries
• Reveal areas of greatest loss across industries
• Create edible, plant-based produce coatings that prolong shelf life

By implementing new procedures and programs and taking advantage of technological advances, it should be possible to achieve the USDA’s proposed goal of a 50% reduction in nationwide food waste by 2030. Real change requires a combined effort between producers, distributors, retailers, and consumers to improve the supply chain and create an environment that supports a continued trend toward a society where food waste is a thing of the past.

• “Technical Platform on the Measurement and Reduction of Food Loss and Waste.” Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. http://www.fao.org/platform-food-loss-waste/en/ .
• “What Is Food Loss and Food Waste?” FCRNfoodsource. https://www.foodsource.org.uk/building-blocks/building-block-what-food-loss-and-food-waste#FLWBB2 .
• “Food Waste FAQs.” USDA. https://www.usda.gov/foodwaste/faqs .
• Leonard, Matt. “Report: Supply Chains Cause 40% of Food Waste in North America.” Supply Chain Dive. July 02, 2019. https://www.supplychaindive.com/news/developed-countries-food-waste-consumer-level-supply-chain/558023/ .
• “Food Waste in America in 2020: Statistics + Facts.” Recycle Track Systems. https://www.rts.com/resources/guides/food-waste-america/ .
• “Worldwide Food Waste.” Think.Eat.Save. https://www.unenvironment.org/thinkeatsave/get-informed/worldwide-food-waste .
• “The Nutrition Source. Food Waste: The Big Picture.” Harvard. September 04, 2019. https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/sustainability/food-waste/ .
• “How We Fight Food Waste in the US.” Feeding America. https://www.feedingamerica.org/our-work/our-approach/reduce-food-waste.
• Cosgrove, Emma. “4 Technologies Tackling Food Waste in the Supply Chain.” Supply Chain Dive. September 12, 2018. https://www.supplychaindive.com/news/4-technologies-food-waste-in-supply-chain/532155/ .

You Might Also Like

Toxic Superfoods is Toxic Misinformation" class="article-card-title mb-0 fw-bold line-clamp line-clamp-2"> Toxic Superfoods is Toxic Misinformation

Lifestyle Modifications to Help You Navigate Menopause

Plant-Based Diets Radically Reduce Food Waste

You Are What You Eat : What Does the 2023 Stanford Twins Nutrition Study Really Show?" class="article-card-title mb-0 fw-bold line-clamp line-clamp-2"> You Are What You Eat : What Does the 2023 Stanford Twins Nutrition Study Really Show?

New to an Oil-Free Diet? Here’s What You Need to Know

Whole: Rethinking the Science of Nutrition " class="article-card-title mb-0 fw-bold line-clamp line-clamp-2"> The Case for a Cold Turkey Approach to Animal Foods: A Selection From T. Colin Campbell’s Whole: Rethinking the Science of Nutrition

How to Achieve Lasting Change Using a High-Carb WFPB Approach

How Effective Are Campaigns Like Meatless Mondays or Veganuary?

Immersion Programs Highlight the Rapid Effects of Improved Nutrition

Copyright 2024 Center for Nutrition Studies. All rights reserved.

Earn Your Plant-Based Nutrition Certificate

Join over 20,000 students who have improved their health, learned new skills, and even inspired career changes..

Program Overview

• 23,000+ students
• 100% online, learn at your own pace
• No prerequisites
• Continuing education credits

With 783 million people going hungry, a fifth of all food goes to waste

Facebook Twitter Print Email

While a third of humanity faces food insecurity, an equivalent of one billion meals go to waste every day, a new report by the UN environment agency (UNEP) revealed on Wednesday. One fifth of food is thrown away.

The UN Environment Programme’s  Food Waste Index Report 2024 highlights that latest data from 2022 shows 1.05 billion tonnes of food went to waste.

Some 19 per cent of food available to consumers was lost overall  at retail, food service, and household levels.

That is in addition to around 13 per cent of food lost in the supply chain , as estimated by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization ( FAO ), from post-harvest up to the point of sale. 

‘Global tragedy’

“Food waste is a global tragedy. Millions will go hungry today as food is wasted across the world,” said Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP , explaining that this ongoing issue not only impacts the global economy but also exacerbates climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution.

Most of the world’s food waste comes from households, totalling 631 million tonnes – or up to 60 per cent - of the total food squandered. The food service and retail sectors were responsible for 290 and 131 million tonnes accordingly.

On average, each person wastes 79 kilogrammes of food annually . This is the equivalent of 1.3 meals every day for everyone in the world impacted by hunger, the report authors underscore.

Not just a ‘rich country’ problem

The problem is not confined to affluent nations. Following a near doubling of data coverage since the 2021 Food Waste Index Report was published, there has been increased convergence between rich and poor.

High-income, upper-middle income, and lower-middle income countries differ in average levels of household food waste by just seven kilogrammes per capita per year. 

The bigger divide comes in the variations between urban and rural populations .

In middle-income countries, for example, rural areas are generally wasting less. One possible explanation is in the recycling of food scraps for pets, animal feed, and home composting in the countryside. 

The report recommends focusing efforts on strengthening food waste reduction and composting in cities. 

Waste and climate change

There is a direct correlation between average temperatures and food waste levels, the report finds.

Hotter countries appear to have more food waste per capita in households, potentially due to increased consumption of fresh foods containing fewer edible parts and a lack of robust refrigeration and preservation solutions.

Higher seasonal temperatures, extreme heat events, and droughts make it more challenging to store, process, transport, and sell food safely, often leading to a significant volume of food being wasted or lost.

Since food loss and waste generates up to 10 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions – almost five times the total emissions compared to the aviation sector – reducing emissions from food waste is essential, UNEP expert believe. 

Food for hope

There is room for optimism, the report suggests: public-private partnerships to reduce food waste and impacts on climate and water stress are being embraced by a steadily growing number of governments of all levels.

Examples include Japan and the UK with reductions of 18 per cent and 31 per cent respectively , showing that change at scale is possible, if food is rationed properly. 

Published ahead of the  International Day of Zero Waste , the UNEP Food Waste Index Report, has been co-authored with WRAP, a UK climate action NGO.

It provides the most accurate global estimate on food waste at retail and consumer levels, offering countries guidance on improving data collection and best practices, in line with the Sustainable Development Goal 12.3 of halving food waste by 2030 .

• climate action

7 Ways to Reduce Food Waste At Home

Every year, we throw away almost one-third of the food we produce. Yet, so many people around the world do not have enough food to eat on a daily basis. In fact, almost 800 million people are undernourished . Food waste is a huge social, economic, and environmental problem that needs to be eradicated. For this reason, it is important that we educate ourselves properly about this issue and think of ways to reduce our food waste . We prepared a short guide packed with advice on how you can do your part.

Food waste is a huge issue that affects everyone around the globe and contributes to the larger issue of climate change. It has been estimated that food waste accounts for a third of all human-caused emissions and generates 8% of greenhouse gases annually. 

Tackling food waste is necessary now more than ever. Everyone can be a part of the solution, from large corporations to small communities. If businesses redirect excess food to communities with limited access to it, they can save money and reduce their methane emissions at the same time. Educating the public about the benefits of reducing food waste will also encourage businesses and consumers to monitor their waste more closely. 

Here is a list of ways in which you can reduce your food waste at home starting today!

1. Start a Compost Bin

Learning the benefits of composting is a great way to start. Compost is a type of soil fertiliser made from food waste and you can easily start producing it by simply composting all your uneaten food, from apple cores and banana peels to vegetable scraps and eggshells. To help the waste rot and turn into compost – a process which takes anywhere between 3 to 6 months – you can water it from time to time. Through composting, you will not only reduce food waste but also provide the soil with rich nutrients that help plants grow.

2. Do Not Throw Away Leftovers Straight Away

You don’t have to throw away whatever is left on your plate straight away. Not only you may want to eat your leftovers the next day but you can also use them to create some quick recipes. If you have some extra grains or vegetables, you can easily whip up delicious fried rice, a stir-fry, or even a tasty vegetarian curry to take to school or enjoy with your family the next day.

3. ‘Ugly’ Produce Can Be Tasty!

Despite what many people believe, ‘ugly’ produce can still be eaten and most of the time, it tastes just the same. A banana that is turning brown or an apple with an unusual shape are perfectly fine to eat! Most of the time, grocery stores will even sell less aesthetically pleasing food at a cheaper price to encourage people to purchase it. By choosing it, you might not only save money but you will also prevent food waste.

4. Get The Portions Right

Whenever you are at a buffet or a birthday party, it is always tempting to feel your plate with all the delicious food in front of you. While no one stops you from enjoying it, remember to be mindful when you put food on your plate because whatever is left over will most likely be thrown away. Make sure you grab only what you can actually eat as you cannot predict when you are going to start feeling full. And if you still feel hungry after you are done, go for a second round!

5. Learn To Store Food Properly

Not everyone knows what the best ways to store food are. If stored improperly, food is going to over-ripe or rotten before you can actually consume it. First of all, it is a good idea to separate raw from cooked food in the fridge and always place the latter above the raw produce to reduce the risk of contamination. Also, make sure to store cooked food in air-tight containers to avoid spoilage. Lastly, if you live in humid climates, you should keep your fresh produce like fruit and vegetables in the refrigerator to prevent it from over-ripening too quickly. Understanding where different food thrives better and lasts longer will not only help you save money but it is also a great and often underrated way to decrease food waste!

6. Take a Family Food Waste Challenge

To make things more interesting, you can always get your friends and family involved. A good way to raise their awareness about food waste is by getting them involved in a food challenge. You can start by measuring how much food gets wasted every day and challenge each other to see who can produce the least amount. Another good way is to set a family goal, such as reducing overall waste by 25% for a week, and reward yourselves with a fun activity if you manage to reach your target.   

7. Donate to Food Banks

While reducing food waste is a great way to start, there is also a more direct way in which you can help your community. Most cities have charities or food banks that accept unopened or unused food items which they will donate to people in need. If you are from the US, you can find your local food bank here . 

Are you a school and want to collaborate with Earth.Org?

Are you a student working on sustainable projects or learning about climate change and the environment.

Submit your story for a chance to be featured on Kids.Earth.Org

About the Author

Martina Igini

• Open access
• Published: 22 April 2021

Exploring the link among food loss, waste and food security: what the research should focus on?

• Fabio G. Santeramo   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-9450-4618 1  

Agriculture & Food Security volume  10 , Article number:  26 ( 2021 ) Cite this article

17k Accesses

20 Citations

2 Altmetric

Metrics details

Food loss and food waste are highly debated topics and likely to stay in the research agendas for the next decades. Their relevance is not only important for developing economies, but also for developed economies, especially due to the impact that loss and waste have on the status of food security. In the present editorial, I comment on how research agendas should be shaped in order to focus on emerging issues, and put emphasis on the topics closely connected to the emerging literature on the circular economy.

During the last decades the growth of the agri-food sector has been parallel to several other dynamics, such as countries’ specialization, trade openness, and socio-economic inequalities. These changes have not eliminated the threats for food insecurity, a complex and multi-faceted phenomenon [ 15 ]. Indeed, they have added further challenges on the global agenda: the share of food-insecure people is still high, with an estimate (before the pandemic) of 680 million people being food insecure [ 6 ] that are expected to increase after the pandemic.

Among the major threats that the global changes are imposing on food security, it is important to mention the increase in the amount of food lost and wasted. Wasting food is a relevant issue for (at least) two reasons: it emphasizes the need for economic efficiency, the necessity to produce foods for those who need it without losing (significant) shares of produced goods due to spoilage of inefficiencies in logistic; it calls for a reflection on the ethical concerns that the current production system imposes on our society.

The terms “food loss” and “food waste” are frequently used as synonymous, while they refer to different aspects of the same problem as suggested in Schuster and Torero [ 23 ]. Food loss, both production and post-harvest losses, refers to the accidental reduction in the quantity and quality of food before consumption. Potential food losses are also associated with food lost, due to pests and diseases, limited harvesting techniques, price volatility, or food not produced, due to the lack of agricultural inputs [ 19 , 20 , 21 ]. Differently, food waste refers to the intentional discard of food suitable for the human consumption.

To put all these issues in one term, food waste and food loss are detrimental for the status of food security, and, by implying sustained prices [ 17 ], impact on the compositions of diets [ 3 ], that are sensitive to income and price changes [ 18 , 24 ]. While the global demand for food grows, millions of people suffer from undernourishment worldwide [ 1 ]. About 1.3 billion tons of edible foodstuffs (one-third of the global food production) are lost or wasted along the food supply chain [ 9 ].

Food loss and waste may occur during production (e.g., pre-harvest, harvest, breeding), post-production procedures (e.g., handling, storage, transport), processing (e.g., canning, packaging, transformation), distribution (e.g., retail, transport), and consumption (e.g., preparation, table) [ 23 ]. The inefficient use of resources within the agri-food systems impacts on the three dimensions of sustainability: from the environmental perspective, food loss and waste contribute to natural resource depletion and environmental pollution; at the economic level, the impacts of food waste are substantial especially at the consumption and retail stages; from the social point of view, food loss and waste, by reducing food access and availability may undermine food security [ 4 , 10 ].

The reduction of food loss and waste along the supply chain, from production to consumption, is essential to improve food security while reducing pressure on natural resources [ 9 ], as stated for the Sustainable Development Goals envisaged by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development [ 25 ]. The global food losses and waste are constantly monitored Footnote 1 on the basis of the Food Loss Index (FLI) and the Food Waste Index (FWI). While the FWI comprising the retail and consumption levels is still under development, the FLI considers food losses occurring from production up to the retail level.

What the literature has already emphasized and what needs to be further investigated

The first author that has investigated the connections between food loss and food security is likely to have been Nyambo [ 12 ], with the important claim farmers in Kenya, by reducing food losses (due to post‐harvest grain handling technology) are capable of enhancing food security.

After this pioneering study, the linkages between food loss and waste and food security have remained under-debated for a couple of decades. At the beginning of the new millennium Marsh et al. [ 11 ] focused on the impact that food losses along the global food supply chains have on food security and concluded that food losses are consistent for the vast majority of traded agricultural commodities. These studies have legitimated the strand of literature devoted to exploring how food losses increase food insecurity in developing countries, the most dependent on trade and in need of innovations.

More recently, Eikenberry and Smith [ 5 ] pointed out that food recovery and donation programmes may help reducing the amount of wasted food, and thus contribute to improve the status of food insecurity in most developed countries.

Containing losses and waste would help cutting the use of resources (i.e. water, energy) used for food production, with benefits for the environment and for the status of food security. In order to reduce food loss and food waste, governments are adopting legislative and non-legislative initiatives and consumer awareness campaigns [ 23 ] to favour the transition towards sustainable agri-food systems and supply chains that ensure food security in a green and circular economy perspective. For instance, countries in the European Union are committed to halve per capita food waste at the retail and consumer level and reduce food losses along the food production and supply chains by 2030, to meet the Sustainable Development Goals. To this end, since 2015, the European Commission took actions to prevent food losses and waste under the Circular Economy Action Plan, based on three major principles: reduce, reuse, and recycle (e.g., [ 14 ]).

Efficient containment policies along the entire agri-food supply chains may contribute to save water and energy and to implement an integrated resource use in a green economy [ 2 ]. Several topics are promising and should be explored more and more in order to follow new trends observed in the food industry [ 19 , 20 ]: the development of improved food harvest, storage, processing, transport and retailing processes, the adoption of new technologies; the organization of farmers in cooperatives or professional associations; the promotion of awareness campaigns for retails and consumers; the development of communication strategies among all participants in food supply chains; the promotion of reuse and recycle strategies in a circular and green economy perspective. The recognition of sectoral interconnections may help to improve cross-sectoral collaborations to achieve long-term economic, environmental, and social goals [ 22 ].

Another issue that should be on the research agenda is the relationships linking water and energy use to the status of food security. The global agri-food systems consume large shares of water and energy for food production and supply chains. Agriculture accounts for 72% of all water withdrawals [ 26 ] and food production and supply chains are responsible of about 30% of total global energy consumption [ 6 , 7 ]. In addition, in the global energy mix, the fossil fuel production (highly water-intensive) is still dominant with respect to renewable energy sources (less water-intensive).

Understanding the water–energy–food security nexus is crucial to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals: the domains “water”, “energy”, “food” are strictly interrelated and the achievement of social, economic and environmental goals in a perspective of sustainable development depends on an efficient management of these resources [ 8 ]. Global projections indicate that—due to a growing population, a rapid economic development and the urbanization, the changes in diets and the climate change [ 8 ]—the demand for water is expected to increase by 55% by 2050 [ 13 ], the energy consumption is expected to grow by up to 50% by 2035, and demand for food is expected to increase by 50% to feed the more than 9 billion people projected by 2050 [ 6 ]. Focusing on the nexus between water, energy, and food would help facing the global challenges that the globe.

To sum up, it is advisable to wisely orient the future research on understanding the interrelations between food loss and waste and food security. To this aim, scenario analyses would be useful to explore strategic decisions (e.g., policy, investment, technical intervention) planned or adopted to contain food loss and waste. In order to analyse the food loss/waste-food security nexus and assess the implications of containment policies, reliable, relevant and timely data is needed. Evidence-based analyses of the implications of food loss and waste on food security, supported by high-quality and available data, would provide key information to policymakers aimed at promoting environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable development.

Availability of data and materials

Not applicable.

For instance, the FAO provides an in-depth look at what food is being lost and wasted, and where. The FAO’s Food Loss and Waste database is a large collection of data on both food loss and food waste containing information and measures of food loss and waste across food products, stages of the value chain, and geographical areas.

Abiad MG, Meho LI. Food loss and food waste research in the Arab world: a systematic review. Food Security. 2018;10(2):311–22.

Article   Google Scholar  

Barbier EB. The green economy post Rio+ 20. Science. 2012;338(6109):887–8.

Article   CAS   Google Scholar  

Caracciolo F, Santeramo FG. Price trends and income inequalities: will Sub-Saharan Africa reduce the gap? Afr Dev Rev. 2013;25(1):42–54.

Corrado S, Caldeira C, Eriksson M, Hanssen OJ, Hauser HE, van Holsteijn F, Liu G, Östergren K, Parry A, Secondi L, Stenmarck Å, Sala S. Food waste accounting methodologies: challenges, opportunities, and further advancements. Glob Food Sec. 2019;20:93–100.

Eikenberry N, Smith C. Attitudes, beliefs, and prevalence of dumpster diving as a means to obtain food by Midwestern, low-income, urban dwellers. Agric Hum Values. 2005;22(2):187–202.

FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP, WHO. The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2020. Transforming food systems for affordable healthy diets. Rome: FAO; 2020.

Google Scholar  

FAO. Global food losses and food waste. Rome: FAO; 2011.

FAO. The Water-Energy-Food Nexus. A new approach in support of food security and sustainable agriculture. Rome: FAO; 2014.

Gustavsson J, Cederberg C, Sonesson U, Van Otterdijk R, Meybeck A. Global food losses and food waste. Rome: FAO; 2011.

Kuiper M, Cui HD. Using food loss reduction to reach food security and environmental objectives—a search for promising leverage points. Food Policy. 2021;98:101915.

Marsh KS, Hammig MD, Singer NS. Estimates of international transport losses of world food supply. J Int Food Agribus Market. 2001;12(3):69–84.

Nyambo BT. Post-harvest maize and sorghum grain losses in traditional and improved stores in South Nyanza District, Kenya. Int J Pest Manag. 1993;39(2):181–7.

OECD. The Water Challenge: sharing a precious commodity. Paris: OECD; 2012.

Sakai S, Yoshida H, Hirai Y, Asari M, Takigami H, Takahashi S, Tomoda K, Peeler MV, Wejchert J, Schmidt-Unterseh T, Ravazzi Douvan A, Hathaway R, Hylander LD, Fischer C, Oh JG, Jinhui L, Chi NC. International comparative study of 3R and waste management policy developments. J Mater Cycles Waste Manag. 2011;13:86–102.

Santeramo FG. On the composite indicators for food security: decisions matter! Food Rev Intl. 2015;31(1):63–73.

Santeramo FG. Food security composite indices: implications for policy and practice. Dev Pract. 2015;25(4):594–600.

Santeramo FG. Price transmission in the European tomatoes and cauliflowers sectors. Agribusiness. 2015;31(3):399–413.

Santeramo FG, Shabnam N. The income-elasticity of calories, macro-and micro-nutrients: what is the literature telling us? Food Res Int. 2015;76:932–7.

Santeramo FG, Carlucci D, De Devitiis B, Seccia A, Stasi A, Viscecchia R, Nardone G. Emerging trends in European food, diets and food industry. Food Res Int. 2018;104:39–47.

Santeramo FG, Lamonaca E, Contò F, Stasi A, Nardone G. Drivers of grain price volatility: a cursory critical review. Agric Econ (AGRICECON). 2018;64(8):347–56.

Santeramo FG, Lamonaca E. On the drivers of global grain price volatility: an empirical investigation. Agric Econ (AGRICECON). 2019;65(1):31–42.

Santeramo FG, Searle S. Linking soy oil demand from the US Renewable Fuel Standard to palm oil expansion through an analysis on vegetable oil price elasticities. Energy Policy. 2019;127:19–23.

Schuster M, Torero M. Reducing food loss and waste. International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), IFPRI book chapters 2016; 9780896295827-03.

Shabnam N, Santeramo FG, Asghar Z, Seccia A. The impact of food price crises on the demand for nutrients in Pakistan. J South Asian Dev. 2016;11(3):305–27.

UNn. Sustainable development goals—17 goals to transform our world. New York: United Nations; 2015.

UN-Water. Summary progress update 2021—SDG 6—water and sanitation for all. Geneva: UN-Water; 2021.

Download references

Acknowledgements

Author information, authors and affiliations.

University of Foggia, Via Napoli 25, 71122, Foggia, Italy

Fabio G. Santeramo

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Contributions

The author read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Fabio G. Santeramo .

Ethics declarations

Ethics approval and consent to participate, consent for publication, competing interests.

The author declares that there are no competing interests.

Additional information

Publisher's note.

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver ( http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ ) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article.

Santeramo, F.G. Exploring the link among food loss, waste and food security: what the research should focus on?. Agric & Food Secur 10 , 26 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40066-021-00302-z

Download citation

Received : 29 March 2021

Accepted : 13 April 2021

Published : 22 April 2021

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1186/s40066-021-00302-z

Share this article

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

• Agri-food system
• Agri-food supply chain
• Circular economy
• Water–energy–food nexus

Agriculture & Food Security

ISSN: 2048-7010

• Submission enquiries: [email protected]
• General enquiries: [email protected]

Skip to Content

• Sustainable Buffs
• Get Involved
• News & Events

Other ways to search:

• Events Calendar

Ways to reduce food waste

April 4, 2024

Read more about Ways to reduce food waste

• Share full article

Advertisement

Supported by

So Much Produce Comes in Plastic. Is There a Better Way?

As governments impose limits on plastic food packaging, climate-friendlier alternatives are in the works. Here are some that might be coming to a grocery store near you.

By Kim Severson

If it seems like plastic surrounds nearly every cucumber, apple and pepper in the produce aisle, it does.

What began with cellophane in the 1930s picked up speed with the rise of plastic clamshells in the 1980s and bagged salads in the 1990s. Online grocery shopping turbocharged it.

But now the race is on for what people who grow and sell fruits and vegetables are calling a moon shot: breaking plastic’s stranglehold on produce.

In a March survey among produce professionals on LinkedIn, the shift to biodegradable material was voted the top trend . “It’s big,” said Soren Bjorn, chief executive officer of Driscoll’s, the world’s biggest grower of berries, which has switched to paper containers in many European markets.

Spain has a plastic tax. France has severely limited plastic-wrapped produce and the European Union is about to add its own restrictions . Canada is trying to hammer out a plan that could eliminate plastic packaging of produce by 95 percent by 2028. In the United States, 11 states have already restricted plastic packaging. As part of a sweeping anti-waste plan, the Biden administration is calling for new ways to package food that uses climate-friendly, antimicrobial material designed to reduce reliance on plastic.

So we agree that eliminating plastic is the answer?

Reducing the use of plastic is an obvious way to push back against a changing climate. Plastic is created from fossil fuels, the biggest contributor to greenhouse gases . It chokes the oceans and seeps into the food chain. Estimates vary, but about 40 percent of plastic waste comes from packaging.

Yet plastic has so far been the most effective tool to fight another environmental threat: food waste.

Wirecutter shares tips for keeping your produce fresh for weeks.

Selling produce is like holding a melting ice cube and asking how much someone will pay for it. Time is of the essence, and plastic works well to slow the decay of vegetables and fruit. That means less produce is tossed into the garbage, where it creates almost 60 percent of landfill methane emissions, according to a 2023 report by the Environmental Protection Agency.

A Swiss study in 2021 showed that each rotting cucumber thrown away has the equivalent environmental impact of 93 plastic cucumber wrappers.

Food is the most common material in landfills. The average American family of four spends $1,500 each year on food that ends up uneaten. Of that, fruits and vegetables make up nearly half of all household food waste, according to research from Michigan State University. And it’s not just the wasted food that adds to climate change. The farming and transportation wasted to produce food that is discarded impacts the climate, too.

Preventing food waste and reducing the use of plastic aren’t mutually exclusive goals. Both are high on the agenda of the Biden administration, which in December issued a draft of a national strategy to halve the nation’s food loss by 2030.

Are Americans on board?

Consumers increasingly report that using less plastic and packaging matters to them, but their shopping habits tell a different story. American shoppers bought $4.3 billion worth of bagged salad last year, according to the International Fresh Produce Association. Marketing experiments and independent research both show that price, quality and convenience drive food choices more than environmental concerns.

Grocers are having to make tough decisions, too. Shoppers have complained about having to buy produce that has already been packed in plastic and priced. Not selling by weight is easier for the store, whose workers don’t have to weigh each item. But it often forces shoppers to buy more than they need.

Battle lines seem to be drawn between the never-plastic crowd and shoppers who prefer the ease of fresh salad greens delivered to their door.

“The packaging conversation is being held hostage by one side or the other,” said Max Teplitski, chief science officer of the International Fresh Produce Association. He leads the Alliance for Sustainable Packaging for Foods , a collection of industry trade groups that formed in January.

The group’s priority is to make sure that any changes in packaging will keep food safe and preserve its quality.

What alternatives to plastic are coming?

Here are a few new ideas headed to the produce aisle:

Bags from trees. An Austrian company is using beechwood trees to make biodegradable cellulose net bags to hold produce. Other companies offer similar netting that decomposes within a few weeks.

Film from peels. Orange peels, shrimp shells and other natural waste are being turned into film that can be used like cellophane, or made into bags. An edible coating made from plant-based fatty acids is sprayed on cucumbers, avocados and other produce sold at many major grocery stores. They work in a way similar to the wax coating commonly used on citrus and apples.

Clamshells from cardboard. Plastic clamshells are a $9.1 billion business in the United States, and the number of growers who use them is vast. Replacing them will be an enormous challenge, particularly for more fragile fruits and vegetables. Plenty of designers are trying. Driscoll’s has been working to develop paper containers for use in the United States and Canada. In the meantime, the company is using more recycled plastic in its clamshells in the United States.

Ice that feels like gelatin. Luxin Wang and other scientists at the University of California, Davis, have invented reusable jelly ice . It is lighter than ice and doesn’t melt. It could eliminate the need for plastic ice packs, which can’t be recycled. After about a dozen uses, the jelly ice can be tossed into a garden or the garbage, where it dissolves.

Boxes with atmosphere. Broccoli is usually shipped in wax-coated boxes packed with ice. The soggy cartons can’t be recycled. Iceless broccoli shipping containers use a mix of gases that help preserve the vegetable instead of chilling it with ice, which is heavy to ship and can transmit pathogens when it melts. Other sustainable, lighter shipping cartons are being designed to remove ethylene , a plant hormone that encourages ripening.

Containers from plants. Rice-paddy straw left over after harvests, grasses, sugar cane stalks and even food waste are all being turned into trays and boxes that are either biodegradable or can be composted.

Problem solved, right?

Hardly. Even if every grower and grocer started using packaging that could be recycled or composted, America’s infrastructure for turning it into something besides trash is spotty at best. Less than 10 percent of all plastic is recycled, a figure that is even lower for produce packaging, said Eva Almenar , a professor at Michigan State University’s School of Packaging . Only a small fraction of packaging labeled compostable stays out of the landfill.

Just 3 percent of wasted food lands at industrial composting centers. Several states have no commercial operations that can compost food waste.

“We don’t have right the technology, and we don’t have the collection systems,” Dr. Almenar said.

Even if the infrastructure were in place, people’s habits aren’t. “Consumers have no clue about what means green, compostable or recyclable,” she said.

Practically, no one has yet devised an affordable plastic alternative that can be recycled or composted and also keeps fruits and vegetables safe and fresh. Plastic allows packers to modify the mix of gases inside a package in a way that extends the shelf life and the quality of fresh produce.

“The pushback you are getting is that if you eliminate plastic and go to fiber, it depletes the shelf life really fast,” said Scott Crawford, vice president of merchandising for Baldor Specialty Foods and a veteran of both Whole Foods Market and Fresh Direct. “The question is which side of the balloon are you trying to squeeze?”

The ideal solution, he said, would be to go back to the days before plastic, when grocers stacked their produce by hand and no one demanded that seasonal fruit like blueberries be available year-round.

“I don’t think we’re going to live to see that,” he said.

Follow New York Times Cooking on Instagram , Facebook , YouTube , TikTok and Pinterest . Get regular updates from New York Times Cooking, with recipe suggestions, cooking tips and shopping advice .

Kim Severson is an Atlanta-based reporter who covers the nation’s food culture and contributes to NYT Cooking . More about Kim Severson

Unpacking the Plastic Problem

It’s in our clothes, phones and sunscreen. but also, increasingly, in marine food chains and immense garbage patches in the oceans. how do we fix this.

Recycling options are limited for personal medical devices  like inhalers and EpiPens, which are made from high-quality plastic. Some companies are trying to change that .

Here’s what scientists know so far about the health effects of nanoplastics, and what you can do to reduce your exposure .

As more consumers try to cut down on plastic waste, start-ups and big brands are hoping to usher in a new age of refillable household cleaners .

Plastic waste is everywhere, and today’s recycling systems fall far short of fixing the global mess . Here’s why, and what needs to change .

Plastic is all around us, despite its adverse effects on the planet. In a 24-hour experiment, this journalist tried to go plastic free .

Want to cut down on your plastic  use? Here are nine steps  to get you started.

Working to reduce food waste

If facilities and infrastructure are available to you, composting could contribute to a comprehensive waste diversion strategy.

• Finding the right food waste reduction champion 
• Collecting and analyzing data stored across your entire enterprise
• Building and leveraging cross-functional teams (e.g., corporate supply chain pros and unit-level inventory managers)
• Deploying consistent training that sticks with employees 
• Creating incentives to promote waste reduction
• Take time to become familiar with the Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act, which provides liability protection, and tax legislation allowing enhanced deductions for food donation. 
• Look into programs like Too Good To Go , an app-based program that puts your end-of-the-day surplus food straight into the hands of paying customers happy to get it at discount.
• Conduct an audit to establish your food-waste baseline.
• Consider using waste tracking systems that capture the weight, type, and source of the food waste, and use that information to improve your kitchen operations.
• Speak with chefs, cooks, and dishwashers for insight into where and why food waste occurs. The collection of strong data will make the case for investing in food waste prevention efforts and win buy-in from your executive team and staff.
• Get your culinary teams to use waste-tracking data to adjust stock ordering and improve production planning.
• Use software systems that go beyond simple inventory management, and link demand forecasting with menu plans and recipe ingredient quantities.
• Adjust ordering and supply to reduce waste and improve the system.
• Research composting facilities and regional organics recycling laws.
• Seek out vendors—both haulers and end-market companies for composted waste—to partner with you.
• Provide proper training to prevent pests, odor, and workplace injuries. It’s important to educate your team members, especially the employees who have to de-package products for diversion.
• Place kitchen food-waste containers in convenient locations to maximize food-waste capture. Use small clear containers at each food station instead of in one location to encourage employees to recycle food trim and leftovers.
• Design clear visuals that feature images and words promoting proper organics separation and showing which items go into each bin.

App helps operators sell surplus food, reduce waste

Too Good to Go shows how to connect with consumers to sell leftover items the restaurant would typically throw away at the end of the day.

Control your food waste to reduce rising costs

Operators are repurposing ingredients, reducing the number of supplies they purchase, and tracking the waste they create to manage expenses.

On Earth Day, find ways to reduce your food waste

You can track the waste you create, donate excess food to hunger-relief charities, and sell surplus food on mobile apps.

Sign up for our Newsletter

The latest news from the National Restaurant Association, published every other Thursday

By clicking Submit I agree to receive email communications from the National Restaurant Association and agree to our Privacy Policy (Opens in a new window) .

Report website accessibility issues

AI is now analyzing your garbage

• Restaurants and grocery stores are using AI to cut down on food waste.
• A staggering 30% to 40% of food grown in the US goes uneaten and trashed.
• To combat that, companies are training AI to analyze food waste, inventory, and purchases.

Artificial intelligence isn't just coming for your job. It's also coming for your trash.

Restaurants and grocery stores are now using AI to assess what food they are throwing away in an effort to combat food waste, The New York Times reported.

Food waste is a big problem. Some 30% to 40% of the food grown in the United States goes uneaten and trashed, Business Insider previously reported. Much of that wasted food ends up in a landfill instead of being composted.

Related stories

To fight that and other contributors to mass waste, companies are training AI to analyze restaurant garbage and grocery store purchases to determine which food — and how much of it — is being discarded. They can then use that data to decide whether to purchase less of a given product based on how much it's selling or being consumed versus thrown out.

Afresh, for instance, uses AI to monitor grocery store inventory and purchases. The company aims to "eliminate food waste and make nutritious food more accessible," according to CEO Matt Schwartz .

Winnow takes a similar approach to restaurants. The company installs cameras above garbage bins, which AI then monitors to assess what food is going to waste and how much is discarded.

With that data in hand, restaurants can shift to smaller portions of the food that's getting trashed. Or even remove those items from the menu altogether. The company says it has helped restaurant kitchens slash their purchasing costs by up to 8% by monitoring garbage and tackling waste.

The food waste problem is real, especially given the growing global population, which is expected to surpass 9 billion by 2050. People living in poverty are spending 50% to 80% of their income on food alone, according to the United Nations Environment Program . And reducing food waste could reduce pressure on water supplies and lower deforestation, the agency says.

Watch: How Disney's magical trash tubes ended up in New York City

• Main content

Local News | Oakland County city begins curbside collection…

Share this:.

• Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
• Click to print (Opens in new window)
• Coronavirus

SUBSCRIBER ONLY

Local news | oakland county city begins curbside collection of food waste, state highlighting wixom’s program as it attemps to reduce food waste in landfills.

Bacon grease, things that are growing mold in your refrigerator, blackened banana peels and more now belong in the yard waste bags or containers placed at the curb each week in Wixom.

The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy is highlighting Wixom’s program, which debuted the first week of April, as part of its statewide plan to reduce the amount of food waste in landfills.

EGLE says that as food breaks down in a landfill, it releases methane, a key driver of climate change.

Wixom residents are invited to place all kinds of food items – even meat, bones, fats and grease – in their curbside yard waste bags or cans. Residents can also include items like egg shells, coffee grinds and filters, and paper napkins and paper towels, as long as they don’t have cleaning solutions on them.

Not everyone in Wixom is on board with it. The city explained the program on its Facebook page, drawing questions from at least half a dozen residents.

“Perfect, more stink in our subdivisions…. Critters galore already, yep just add more, that’s sensible,” one resident posted.

Others also expressed concern about odor and attracting vermin.

Wixom officials could not be reached for comment.

The city’s Facebook post and a flier sent to residents explained that food scraps, like yard waste, will be composted and used in gardens and city projects.

For more information, go to https://www.rrrasoc.org/yard-waste/wixom-food-scrap-program/ .

Wixom invites nonresidents to try home composting or take their food waste to a local composting farm that accepts food scraps. You can learn more at https://www.rrrasoc.org/yard-waste/composting/ .

With more than 2 billion pounds of food items going into Michigan landfills annually, the state’s MI Healthy Climate Plan has set a goal of cutting that in half by 2030.

Because southeast Michigan is the most populated area of the state, addressing food waste in the Detroit area is expected to have a major impact on the state goal.

Hundreds of Michigan residents, “including advocates in environmental justice, public transit, local food, climate action, business, labor, academia, government, and people of all political persuasions had input” on the state’s climate plan, according to a post on EGLE’s website. The plan was released in April 2022.

Experts say some waste comes from parts of food items that aren’t intended to be eaten, such as stems or cores in produce. But most waste is from food that was supposed to be consumed but was discarded.

STUDY UNDERWAY IN SOUTHFIELD

A Detroit-based nonprofit, Make Food Not Waste, is conducting a study in Southfield on how to divert all of a city’s food waste from landfills. The group is looking at best practices in food waste reduction from around the country. The group says there will be more than one solution, according to city documents.

The group estimates that 46% of Southfield’s food waste comes from residential sources. Another 35% comes from restaurants.

The group, which received a grant from EGLE to do the study, plans to present its findings to the city in June and hopes to implement an action plan by early fall.

One method the group promotes for food waste reduction is “upcycling,” or collecting surplus food from farms, grocery stores, restaurants and other sources, and using it in kitchens that create meals for the community.

For more information, go to https://makefoodnotwaste.org/ .

More in Local News

Local News | One injured in Pontiac shooting

Crime and Public Safety | Parents of Oxford school shooter get maximum sentence

Local News | Dirt bike driver killed by alleged drunk driver in northern Macomb County

Local News | Ready for maple-syrup making and pancakes on Saturday in Oakland County?