{{Short description|Food that is discarded, lost or uneaten}} {{use American English|date=November 2022}} {{use mdy dates|cs1-dates=ly|date=November 2022}} {{Pollution sidebar|Solid waste}} [[File:Food Waste Fiasco (15819007150).jpg|thumb|Food recovered by food waste critic Robin Greenfield in Madison, Wisconsin, from two days of recovery from dumpsters<ref>{{Cite web |last=Greenfield |first=Robin |date=2014-10-06 |title=The Food Waste Fiasco: You Have to See it to Believe it! |url=https://www.robingreenfield.org/foodwaste/ |website=www.robingreenfield.org}}</ref>]] '''Food loss and waste''' is food that is discarded or otherwise lost uneaten. This occurs throughout the food system, during production, processing, distribution, retail and food service sales, and consumption. Overall, about one-third of the world's food is thrown away,<ref>{{Cite book |author1= Jenny Gustavsson |title=Global food losses and food waste: extent, causes and prevention: study conducted for the International Congress "Save Food!" at Interpack 2011 Düsseldorf, Germany |oclc=1126211917 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web| date=2021-10-04| title=UN Calls for Action to End Food Waste Culture| url=https://dailynewsbrief.com/2021/10/04/un-calls-for-action-to-end-food-waste-culture/| access-date=2021-10-04| publisher=Daily News Brief|archive-date=2021-10-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211004121006/https://dailynewsbrief.com/2021/10/04/un-calls-for-action-to-end-food-waste-culture/|url-status=live}}</ref> and a huge amount of resources used in food production are wasted<ref>{{Cite web |title=Global food losses and food waste |url=https://www.fao.org/4/mb060e/mb060e00.htm |access-date=2026-02-09 |website=www.fao.org}}</ref>. A 2021 meta-analysis by the United Nations Environment Programme estimated that global food waste amounted to 931 million tonnes annually (about 121 kg per person) across three sectors: 61 percent from households, 26 percent from food service and 13 percent from retail.<ref name="UNEP-2021">{{Cite report |url=http://www.unep.org/resources/report/unep-food-waste-index-report-2021 |title=UNEP Food Waste Index Report 2021 |date=2021-03-04 |publisher=United Nations Environment Programme |isbn=978-92-807-3851-3 |access-date=2022-02-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220201175514/https://www.unep.org/resources/report/unep-food-waste-index-report-2021 |archive-date=2022-02-01 |url-status=live}}</ref>
Food waste is addressed through prevention (e.g. by food preservation), reuse (e.g. food donation), animal feed, or recycling. Discarding food in landfills is to be avoided because it is a major source of the greenhouse gas methane.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-08-12 |title=Food Recovery Hierarchy |url=https://www.epa.gov/sustainable-management-food/food-recovery-hierarchy |access-date=2022-05-15 |website=United States Environmental Protection Agency |archive-date=2019-05-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190523060937/https://www.epa.gov/sustainable-management-food/food-recovery-hierarchy }}</ref> Reducing food waste in all parts of the food system is an important part of reducing the environmental impact of agriculture, by reducing the total amount of water, land, and other resources used.
Wasted food is a major part of the impact of agriculture on climate change (it amounts to 3.3 billion tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions annually<ref>{{Cite web |title=FAO - News Article: Food wastage: Key facts and figures |url=http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/196402/icode/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210607154047/http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/196402/icode/ |archive-date=2021-06-07 |access-date=2021-06-07 |website=www.fao.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2013-09-11 |title=A third of food is wasted, making it third-biggest carbon emitter, U.N. says |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-food-wastage-idUKBRE98A0E920130911 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210607154048/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-food-wastage-idUKBRE98A0E920130911 |archive-date=2021-06-07 |access-date=2021-06-07 |work=Reuters}}</ref>) and other environmental issues, such as land use, water use and loss of biodiversity. It also conflicts with food insecurity in parts of the world. The UN's Sustainable Development Goals seek to "halve global per capita food waste at the retail and consumer levels and reduce food losses along production and supply chains, including post-harvest losses" by 2030.<ref>United Nations (2017) Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 6 July 2017, Work of the Statistical Commission pertaining to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development ([https://undocs.org/A/RES/71/313 A/RES/71/313] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201023121826/https://undocs.org/A/RES/71/313 |date=2020-10-23 }})</ref> In the 2022 United Nations Biodiversity Conference nations agreed to reduce food waste by 50% by the year 2030.<ref name=CBD/>
== Definition == thumb|upright=1.6|A conceptual framework for food loss and waste (FLW)<ref name="FAO-2019"/> Food loss and waste occurs at all stages of the food supply chain – production, processing, sales, and consumption.<ref name="Bellemare-2017">{{Cite journal|last1=Bellemare|first1=Marc F. |last2=Çakir |first2=Metin |last3=Peterson |first3=Hikaru Hanawa |last4=Novak|first4=Lindsey|last5=Rudi|first5=Jeta|title=On the Measurement of Food Waste|journal=American Journal of Agricultural Economics|volume=99|issue=5 |pages=1148–1158|doi=10.1093/ajae/aax034 |year=2017|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name="FAO-2019">{{Cite book|url=http://www.fao.org/documents/card/en/c/ca6122en|title=In brief: The State of Food and Agriculture 2019. Moving forward on food loss and waste reduction|author=FAO|year=2019|location=Rome|access-date=2021-06-21 |archive-date=2021-04-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210429155350/http://www.fao.org/documents/card/en/c/ca6122en|url-status=live}}</ref> Definitions of what constitutes food loss versus food waste or what parts of foods (i.e., inedible parts) exit the food supply chain are considered lost or wasted vary.<ref name="FAO-2019" /> Terms are often defined on a situational basis (as is the case more generally with definitions of waste).<ref name="Bellemare-2017" /><ref name=Westdendorf>{{Cite book|title= Food waste to animal feed|last= Westendorf|first= Michael L.|year= 2000|publisher= John Wiley & Sons|isbn= 978-0-8138-2540-3|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=3Jikic00BIcC&pg=PP1|access-date= 2020-10-31 |archive-date= 2023-03-02 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230302035307/https://books.google.com/books?id=3Jikic00BIcC&pg=PP1|url-status= live}}</ref> Professional bodies, including international organizations, state governments, and secretariats may use their own definitions.<ref name=oreo>{{Cite book|title = Utilization of by-products and treatment of waste in the food industry|last = Oreopoulou|first = Vasso|author2 = Winfried Russ|year = 2007|publisher = Springer|isbn = 978-0-387-33511-7|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=9G1M9Z8qgJ4C|access-date = 2016-09-23 |archive-date = 2023-03-02 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230302035309/https://books.google.com/books?id=9G1M9Z8qgJ4C|url-status = live}}</ref>
===United Nations=== The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations defines food loss and waste as the decrease in quantity or quality of food along the food supply chain. Within this framework, UN Agencies distinguish loss and waste at two different stages in the process:<ref>{{Cite web|title=Definition of food loss and waste|url=https://www.unep.org/thinkeatsave/about/definition-food-loss-and-waste|access-date=2022-02-01|website=ThinkEatSave|archive-date=2022-01-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220120133529/https://www.unep.org/thinkeatsave/about/definition-food-loss-and-waste|url-status=live}}</ref>
*'''Food loss''' occurs along the food supply chain from harvest/slaughter/catch up to, but not including, the sales level *'''Food waste''' occurs at the retail and consumption level.
Important components of this definition include:<ref name="FAO-2019" />
* Food redirected to nonfood chains (including animal feed, compost, or recovery to bioenergy) is not counted as food loss or waste. Inedible parts are not considered as food loss or waste (these inedible parts are sometimes referred to as unavoidable food waste)<ref name="FAO-2019" /> Under Sustainable Development Goal 12, the Food and Agriculture Organization is responsible for measuring food loss, while the UN Environmental Program measures food waste.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Food Waste Index|url=https://www.unep.org/thinkeatsave/foodwasteindex|access-date=2022-02-01|website=ThinkEatSave|archive-date=2022-02-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220202002854/https://www.unep.org/thinkeatsave/foodwasteindex|url-status=live}}</ref>
===European Union=== thumb|Protest against food waste, Berlin, Germany In the European Union (EU), food waste is defined by combining the definitions of food and waste, namely: "any substance or product, whether processed, partially processed or unprocessed, intended to be, or reasonably expected to be ingested by humans (...)" (including things such as drinks and chewing gum; excluding things such as feed, medicine, cosmetics, tobacco products, and narcotic or psychotropic substances) "which the holder discards or intends or is required to discard".<ref name="Laaninen"/>{{rp|p=2–3}}
Previously, food waste was defined by directive 75/442/EEC as "any food substance, raw or cooked, which is discarded, or intended or required to be discarded" in 1975.{{refn|name="31975L0442"|{{CELEX|id=01975L0442-20031120|formatx=PDF|text=Consolidated text: Council Directive of 15 July 1975 on waste (75/442/EEC)}}. No longer in force, Date of end of validity: 16/05/2006; Repealed by 32006L0012.<ref name="32006L0012"/>}} In 2006, 75/442/EEC was repealed by 2006/12/EC,{{refn|name="32006L0012"|{{CELEX|id=02006L0012-20090625|text=Consolidated text: Directive 2006/12/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 April 2006 on waste}}. No longer in force, Date of end of validity: 11/12/2010; Repealed by 32008L0098.<ref name="32008L0098"/>}} which defined waste as "any substance or object in the categories set out in Annex I which the holder discards or intends or is required to discard". Meanwhile, Article 2 of Regulation (EC) No. 178/2002 (the General Food Law Regulation), as amended on 1 July 2022, defined food as "any substance or product, whether processed, partially processed or unprocessed, intended to be, or reasonably expected to be ingested by humans (...)", including things such as drinks and chewing gum, excluding things such as feed, medicine, cosmetics, tobacco products, and narcotic or psychotropic substances.<ref name="32002R0178">{{CELEX|id=02002R0178-20240701|text=Consolidated text: Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 January 2002 laying down the general principles and requirements of food law, establishing the European Food Safety Authority and laying down procedures in matters of food safety}}</ref>
A 2016 European Court of Auditors special report had criticised the lack of a common definition of food waste as hampering progress, and a May 2017 resolution by the European Parliament supported a legally binding definition of food waste.<ref name="Laaninen" />{{rp|p=4, 6}} Finally, the 2018/851/EU directive of 30 May 2018 (the revised Waste Framework Directive)<ref name="32018L0851">{{CELEX|id=32018L0851|text=Directive (EU) 2018/851 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018 amending Directive 2008/98/EC on waste}}</ref> combined the two (after waste was redefined in 2008 by Article 3.1 of 2008/98/EC as "any substance or object which the holder discards or intends or is required to discard")<ref name="32008L0098">{{CELEX|id=02008L0098-20240218|text=Consolidated text: Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 November 2008 on waste and repealing certain Directives}}</ref> by defining food waste as "all food as defined in Article 2 of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council that has become waste."<ref name="Laaninen">{{Cite web |title=Reducing food waste in the European Union |author=Tarja Laaninen & Maria Paola Calasso |work=europarl.europa.eu |date=December 2020 |access-date=5 August 2022 |url=https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2020/659376/EPRS_BRI(2020)659376_EN.pdf |archive-date=2021-12-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211207012707/https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2020/659376/EPRS_BRI(2020)659376_EN.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>{{rp|p=2–3}}
===United States=== thumb|Food waste alternative. As of 2022, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) employed three categories:<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sustainable Management of Food Basics {{!}} US EPA |author= |work=United States Environmental Protection Agency |date=11 August 2015 |access-date=5 August 2022 |url=https://www.epa.gov/sustainable-management-food/sustainable-management-food-basics#Food%20Waste |archive-date=2022-08-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220805171435/https://www.epa.gov/sustainable-management-food/sustainable-management-food-basics#Food%20Waste |url-status=live }} :"Excess food refers to food that is recovered and donated to feed people. Food waste refers to food such as plate waste (i.e., food that has been served but not eaten), spoiled food, or peels and rinds considered inedible that is sent to feed animals, to be composted or anaerobically digested, or to be landfilled or combusted with energy recovery. Food loss refers to unused product from the agricultural sector, such as unharvested crops."</ref> * "'''Excess food''' refers to food that is recovered and donated to feed people." * "'''Food waste''' refers to food such as plate waste (i.e., food that has been served but not eaten), spoiled food, or peels and rinds considered inedible that is sent to feed animals, to be composted or anaerobically digested, or to be landfilled or combusted with energy recovery." * "'''Food loss''' refers to unused product from the agricultural sector, such as unharvested crops."
In 2006, the EPA defined food waste as "uneaten food and food preparation wastes from residences and commercial establishments such as grocery stores, restaurants, produce stands, institutional cafeterias and kitchens, and industrial sources like employee lunchrooms".<ref name="epa">{{Cite web |year=2006 |title=Terms of Environment: Glossary, Abbreviations and Acronyms (Glossary F) |url=http://www.epa.gov/OCEPAterms/fterms.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030219151827/https://www.epa.gov/OCEPAterms/fterms.html |archive-date=February 19, 2003 |access-date=2009-08-20 |publisher=United States Environmental Protection Agency}}</ref>
The states remain free to define food waste differently for their purposes,<ref name="omm">{{cite web |title=Organic Materials Management Glossary |url=http://www.ciwmb.ca.gov/Organics/Glossary/ |publisher=California Integrated Waste Management Board |year=2008 |access-date=2009-08-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091207024045/http://www.ciwmb.ca.gov/Organics/Glossary/ |archive-date=2009-12-07}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| title=Chapter 3.1. Compostable Materials Handling Operations and Facilities Regulatory Requirements| publisher=California Integrated Waste Management Board| url=http://www.ciwmb.ca.gov/regulations/Title14/ch31.htm| access-date=2009-08-25| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091009041034/http://www.ciwmb.ca.gov/Regulations/Title14/ch31.htm| archive-date=2009-10-09}} :"Food Material" means any material that was acquired for animal or human consumption, is separated from the municipal solid waste stream, and that does not meet the definition of "agricultural material."</ref> though as of 2009, many had not done so.<ref name="fwcr">{{cite web |title=Food Waste Composting Regulations |url=http://www.calrecycle.ca.gov/LEA/regs/review/FoodWastComp/FoodWastcomp.pdf |publisher=California Integrated Waste Management Board |year=2009 |access-date=2013-11-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150610215200/http://www.calrecycle.ca.gov/LEA/regs/review/FoodWastComp/FoodWastcomp.pdf |archive-date=2015-06-10 }} :"Many states surveyed for this paper do not define food waste or distinguish between pre-consumer and post consumer food waste, while other states classify food waste types."</ref>
=== Methodology === The 2019 FAO report stated: "Food loss and waste has typically been measured in physical terms using tonnes as reporting units. This measurement fails to account for the economic value of different commodities and can risk attributing a higher weight to low-value products just because they are heavier. [This] report acknowledges this by adopting a measure that accounts for the economic value of produce."<ref name="FAO-2019" />{{rp|10}}
Hall et al. (2009) calculated food waste in the United States in terms of energy value "by comparing the US food supply data with the calculated food consumed by the US population." The result was that food waste among American consumers increased from "about 30% of the available food supply in 1974 to almost 40% in recent years" (the early 2000s), or about 900 kcal per person per day (1974) to about 1400 kcal per person per day (2003).<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Hall |first1=K. D. |last2=Guo |first2=J. |last3=Dore |first3=M. |last4=Chow |first4=C. C. |date=November 2009 |title=The Progressive Increase of Food Waste in America and Its Environmental Impact |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=4 |issue=11 |article-number=e7940 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0007940 |pmid=19946359 |pmc=2775916 |bibcode=2009PLoSO...4.7940H |doi-access=free }}</ref> A 2012 Natural Resources Defense Council report interpreted this to mean that Americans threw away up to 40% of food that was safe to eat.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nrdc.org/sites/default/files/wasted-food-IP.pdf|title=Wasted: How America Is Losing Up to 40 Percent of Its Food from Far to Fork to Landfill|last=Gunders|first=Dana|date=August 2012|website=nrdc.org|access-date=2017-06-20 |archive-date=2017-06-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170617021421/https://www.nrdc.org/sites/default/files/wasted-food-IP.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Buzby & Hyman (2012) estimated both the total weight (in kg and lbs) and monetary value (in USD) of food loss in the United States, concluding that "the annual value of food loss is almost 10% of the average amount spent on food per consumer in 2008".<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Buzby |first1=Jean C. |last2=Hyman |first2=Jeffrey |date=October 2012 |title=Total and per capita value of food loss in the United States |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0306919212000693 |journal=Food Policy |volume=37 |issue=5 |pages=561–570 |doi=10.1016/j.foodpol.2012.06.002 |access-date=5 August 2022 |archive-date=2022-08-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220805182922/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0306919212000693 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref>
==== Net animal losses ==== Another approach to measuring food waste are "net animal losses" – the difference between the calories in human-edible crops fed to animals and the calories returned in meat, dairy and fish. These losses are higher than all conventional food losses combined.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Food waste: The biggest loss could be what you choose to put in your mouth |url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/03/180326152403.htm |access-date=2024-04-05 |website=ScienceDaily |language=en}}</ref> This is because livestock eat more human-edible food than their products provide. Research estimated that if the US would eat all human-edible food instead of feeding it to animals in order to eat their meat, dairy and eggs, it would free up enough food for an additional 350 million people.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Shepon |first1=Alon |last2=Eshel |first2=Gidon |last3=Noor |first3=Elad |last4=Milo |first4=Ron |date=2018-04-10 |title=The opportunity cost of animal based diets exceeds all food losses |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |language=en |volume=115 |issue=15 |pages=3804–3809 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1713820115 |doi-access=free |issn=0027-8424 |pmc=5899434 |pmid=29581251|bibcode=2018PNAS..115.3804S }}</ref> At a global level livestock is fed an average of 1738 kcal/person/day of human-edible food, and just 594 kcal/p/d of animal products return to the human food supply, a net loss of 66%.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Current global food production is sufficient to meet human nutritional needs in 2050 provided there is radical societal adaptation |journal=Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene |date=2018 |doi=10.1525/elementa.310 |last1=Berners-Lee |first1=M. |last2=Kennelly |first2=C. |last3=Watson |first3=R. |last4=Hewitt |first4=C. N. |volume=6 |article-number=52 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2018EleSA...6...52B }}</ref>
==Sources== thumb
===Production=== In the United States, food loss can occur at most stages of the food industry and in significant amounts.<ref name=kantor>{{cite journal|last1=Kantor|first1=Linda Scott|last2=Lipton|first2=Kathryn|last3=Manchester|first3=Alden|last4=Oliveira|first4=Victor|title=Estimating and Addressing America's Food Losses|journal=Food Review|date=January–April 1997|pages=2–12|url=http://ers.usda.gov/Publications/FoodReview/Jan1997/Jan97a.pdf|archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/5923/20110903004334/http%3A//ers.usda.gov/Publications/FoodReview/Jan1997/Jan97a.pdf|archive-date=2011-09-03}} {{Update inline|date=May 2018}}</ref> In subsistence agriculture, the amounts of food loss are unknown, but are likely to be insignificant by comparison, due to the limited stages at which loss can occur, and given that food is grown for projected need as opposed to a global marketplace demand.<ref>{{cite book | last = Waters | first = Tony | title = The Persistence of Subsistence Agriculture: life beneath the level of the marketplace | publisher = Lexington Books | year = 2007 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=H1rHCaNFlIwC&q=The%20Persistence%20of%20Subsistence%20Agriculture%3A%20life%20beneath%20the%20level%20of%20the%20marketplace&pg=PP1 | access-date = 2009-08-21 | isbn = 978-0-7391-0768-3 | archive-date = 2023-03-02 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230302035345/https://books.google.com/books?id=H1rHCaNFlIwC&q=The%20Persistence%20of%20Subsistence%20Agriculture%3A%20life%20beneath%20the%20level%20of%20the%20marketplace&pg=PP1 | url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title = Food Security | url = http://www.gaia-technology.com/sa/newsletters/newsletter.cfm?newsletterID=136&ID=0 | publisher = Scientific Alliance | year = 2009 | access-date = 2009-08-21 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110711063013/http://www.gaia-technology.com/sa/newsletters/newsletter.cfm?newsletterID=136&ID=0 | archive-date = 2011-07-11 }} :"... there is certainly a lot of waste in the system ... Unless, that is, we were to go back to subsistence agriculture …"</ref> Nevertheless, on-farm losses in storage in developing countries, particularly in African countries, can be high although the exact nature of such losses is much debated.<ref>{{cite web|author= Shepherd A.W.|title= A Market-Oriented Approach to Post-harvest Management|url= http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/user_upload/ags/publications/moph.pdf|publisher= FAO|location= Rome|date= 1991|access-date= 2017-04-23|archive-date= 2016-09-29 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160929004055/http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/user_upload/ags/publications/moph.pdf|url-status= live}}</ref>
In the food industry of the United States, the food supply of which is the most diverse and abundant of any country in the world, loss occurs from the beginning of food production chain.<ref name=kantor/> From planting, crops can be subjected to pest infestations and severe weather,<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1094/PDIS.2000.84.3.357 |pmid=30841254 |title=Rice Pest Constraints in Tropical Asia: Quantification of Yield Losses Due to Rice Pests in a Range of Production Situations |journal=Plant Disease |volume=84 |issue=3 |pages=357–69 |year=2000 |last1=Savary |first1=Serge |last2=Willocquet |first2=Laetitia |last3=Elazegui |first3=Francisco A |last4=Castilla |first4=Nancy P |last5=Teng |first5=Paul S |doi-access=free |bibcode=2000PlDis..84..357S }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1023/A:1015086831467 |year=2001 |title=Climate Change and Extreme Weather Events; Implications for Food Production, Plant Diseases, and Pests |last1=Rosenzweig |first1=Cynthia |journal=Global Change and Human Health |volume=2 |issue=2 |pages=90–104 |last2=Iglesias |first2=Ana |last3=Yang |first3=X.B |last4=Epstein |first4=Paul R |last5=Chivian |first5=Eric |hdl=2286/R.I.55344 |s2cid=44855998 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> which cause losses before harvest.<ref name=kantor/> Since natural forces (e.g. temperature and precipitation) remain the primary drivers of crop growth, losses from these can be experienced by all forms of outdoor agriculture.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1098/rstb.2005.1746 |pmid=16433102 |title=Weather patterns, food security and humanitarian response in sub-Saharan Africa |journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |volume=360 |issue=1463 |pages=2169–82 |year=2005 |last1=Haile |first1=Menghestab |pmc=1569582 }}</ref> On average, farms in the United States lose up to six billion pounds of crops every year because of these unpredictable conditions.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Food Waste|website=GRACE Communications Foundation|url=http://www.sustainabletable.org/5664/food-waste|access-date=2018-03-10|archive-date=2018-03-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180307102144/http://www.sustainabletable.org/5664/food-waste|url-status=live}}</ref> According to the IPCC sixth assessment report, encouraging the development of technologies that address issues in food harvesting and post-harvesting could have a significant impact on decreasing food waste in the supply chain early-on.<ref>{{Cite book |date=2022-02-01 |chapter=Climate change mitigation |title=OECD Environmental Performance Reviews: Finland 2021 |doi=10.1787/6a520df3-en |isbn=978-92-64-84599-2 |s2cid=131646210}}</ref>
The use of machinery in harvesting can cause losses, as harvesters may be unable to discern between ripe and immature crops, or collect only part of a crop.<ref name="kantor" /> Economic factors, such as regulations and standards for quality and appearance,<ref>{{cite web |title=Wonky fruit & vegetables make a comeback! |publisher=European Parliament |year=2009 |url=http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/public/story_page/054-57764-201-07-30-909-20090706STO57744-2009-20-07-2009/default_en.htm |access-date=2009-08-21 |archive-date=2015-09-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924200244/http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/public/story_page/054-57764-201-07-30-909-20090706STO57744-2009-20-07-2009/default_en.htm}}</ref> also cause food waste; farmers often harvest selectively via field gleaning, preferring to not waste crops "not to standards" in the field (where they can still be used as fertilizer or animal feed), since they would otherwise be discarded later.<ref name="kantor" /> This method of removing undesirable produce from harvest collection, distribution sites and grocery stores is called culling.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Goldenberg |first=Suzanna |date=July 13, 2016 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/jul/13/us-food-waste-ugly-fruit-vegetables-perfect |title=Half of all US food produce is thrown away, new research suggests |work=The Guardian |access-date=November 29, 2017 |archive-date=2017-12-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201031133/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/jul/13/us-food-waste-ugly-fruit-vegetables-perfect |url-status=live }}</ref> However, usually when culling occurs at the production, food processing, retail and consumption stages, it is to remove or dispose of produce with a strange or imperfect appearance rather than produce that is spoiled or unsafe to eat.<ref name="Gustavson">{{cite book|last1=Gustavson|first1=Jenny|url=http://www.fao.org/docrep/014/mb060e/mb060e.pdf|title=Global Food Losses and Food Waste|last2=Cederberg|first2=Christel|last3=Sonesson|first3=Ulf|last4=van Otterdijk|first4=Robert|last5=Meybeck|first5=Alexandre|publisher=FAO|year=2011|access-date=2015-10-15 |archive-date=2018-01-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180128035040/http://www.fao.org/docrep/014/mb060e/mb060e.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> In urban areas, fruit and nut trees often go unharvested because people either do not realize that the fruit is edible or they fear that it is contaminated, despite research which shows that urban fruit is safe to consume.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Is it safe to eat apples picked off city trees? |website=The Boston Globe |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/2015/11/23/urbanforage/CaSOpZgdsG1Pzap97JrZJM/story.html?s_campaign=bostonglobe%253Asocialflow%253Atwitter |access-date=2015-12-17 |archive-date=2015-12-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222094445/http://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/2015/11/23/urbanforage/CaSOpZgdsG1Pzap97JrZJM/story.html?s_campaign=bostonglobe%253Asocialflow%253Atwitter |url-status=live }}</ref>
===Food processing=== Food loss continues in the post-harvest stage, but the amounts of post-harvest loss involved are relatively unknown and difficult to estimate.<ref name=morris>{{Cite book|last=Morris|first=Robert F.|author2=United States National Research Council|title=Postharvest food losses in developing countries|publisher=National Academy of Sciences|year=1978|bibcode=1978nap..book20028N |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XjYrAAAAYAAJ|author2-link=United States National Research Council|access-date=2016-09-23 |archive-date=2023-03-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230302035334/https://books.google.com/books?id=XjYrAAAAYAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|1}} Regardless, the variety of factors that contribute to food loss, both biological/environmental and socio-economical, would limit the usefulness and reliability of general figures.<ref name=morris/>{{rp|1,7–8}} In storage, considerable quantitative losses can be attributed to pests and micro-organisms.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Kumar|first1=Deepak|last2=Kalita|first2=Prasanta|date=2017-01-15|title=Reducing Postharvest Losses during Storage of Grain Crops to Strengthen Food Security in Developing Countries|journal=Foods|volume=6|issue=1|page=8|doi=10.3390/foods6010008|issn=2304-8158|pmc=5296677|pmid=28231087|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Agricultural engineering in development - Post-harvest losses|url=https://www.fao.org/3/t0522e/T0522E04.htm|access-date=2020-11-10|website=www.fao.org|archive-date=2020-11-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201124135819/http://www.fao.org/3/t0522e/t0522e04.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> This is a particular problem for countries that experience a combination of heat (around 30 °C) and ambient humidity (between 70 and 90 per cent), as such conditions encourage the reproduction of insect pests and micro-organisms.<ref name="foa1">{{cite web | title = Loss and waste: Do we really know what is involved? | url = http://www.fao.org/DOCREP/004/AC301E/AC301e02.htm | publisher = Food and Agriculture Organization | access-date = 2009-08-23 | archive-date = 2009-11-09 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20091109021322/http://www.fao.org/DOCREP/004/AC301E/AC301e02.htm | url-status = live }}</ref> Losses in the nutritional value, caloric value and edibility of crops, by extremes of temperature, humidity or the action of micro-organisms,<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1111/j.1365-2672.1989.tb03766.x |pmid=2508232 |title=Pre- and post-harvest ecology of fungi causing spoilage of foods and other stored products |journal=Journal of Applied Bacteriology |volume=67 |issue=s18 |pages=11s–25s |year=1989 |last1=Lacey |first1=J }}</ref> also account for food waste.<ref name="foa">{{cite web | title = Post-harvest system and food losses | url = http://www.fao.org/DOCREP/004/AC301E/AC301e03.htm | publisher = Food and Agriculture Organization | access-date = 2009-08-23 | archive-date = 2009-11-08 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20091108031954/http://www.fao.org/DOCREP/004/AC301E/AC301e03.htm | url-status = live }}</ref> Further losses are generated in the handling of food and by shrinkage in weight or volume.<ref name=kantor/>
Some of the food loss produced by processing can be difficult to reduce without affecting the quality of the finished product.<ref name=oreo/>{{rp|3}} Food safety regulations are able to claim foods that contradict standards before they reach markets.<ref name=kantor/> Although this can conflict with efforts to reuse food loss (such as in animal feed),<ref>{{cite book |title=Food industry and the environment in the European Union: practical issues and cost implications |last=Dalzell |first=Janet M. |year=2000 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-0-8342-1719-5 |page=300 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3j-xV3i5iY4C&pg=PA300 |access-date=2009-08-29 |archive-date=2023-03-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230302035327/https://books.google.com/books?id=3j-xV3i5iY4C&pg=PA300 |url-status=live }}</ref> safety regulations are in place to ensure the health of the consumer; they are vitally important, especially in the processing of foodstuffs of animal origin (e.g. meat and dairy products), as contaminated products from these sources can lead to and are associated with microbiological and chemical hazards.<ref>{{cite web |date=30 April 2007 |title = Environmental, Health and Safety Guidelines for Meat Processing |website=International Finance Corporation |page = 2 |url = http://www.ifc.org/ifcext/enviro.nsf/AttachmentsByTitle/gui_EHSGuidelines2007_MeatProcessing/$FILE/Final+-+Meat+Processing.pdf |access-date = 2009-08-29 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100331052931/http://www.ifc.org/ifcext/enviro.nsf/AttachmentsByTitle/gui_EHSGuidelines2007_MeatProcessing/$FILE/Final+-+Meat+Processing.pdf |archive-date = 2010-03-31 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title = Specific hygiene rules for food of animal origin | url = http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/food_safety/veterinary_checks_and_food_hygiene/f84002_en.htm | publisher = Europa | year = 2009 | access-date = 2009-08-29 | archive-date = 2015-04-06 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150406172206/http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/food_safety/veterinary_checks_and_food_hygiene/f84002_en.htm | url-status = live }} :"Foodstuffs of animal origin … may present microbiological and chemical hazards"</ref>
===Retail=== thumb|Discarded bagels Packaging protects food from damage during its transportation from farms and factories via warehouses to retailing, as well as preserving its freshness upon arrival.<ref name="defrapack" /> Although it avoids considerable food waste,<ref name="defrapack">{{cite web |title = Making the most of packaging, A strategy for a low-carbon economy |url = http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/waste/producer/packaging/documents/excec-summary-pack-strategy.pdf |publisher = Defra |year = 2009 |access-date = 2009-09-13 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100108015433/http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/waste/producer/packaging/documents/excec-summary-pack-strategy.pdf |archive-date = 2010-01-08 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last = Robertson |first = Gordon L. |title = Food packaging: principles and practice |publisher = CRC Press |year = 2006 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=NFRR6GayR74C&pg=PA1 |access-date = 2009-09-27 |isbn = 978-0-8493-3775-8 |archive-date = 2023-03-02 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230302035301/https://books.google.com/books?id=NFRR6GayR74C&pg=PA1 |url-status = live }}</ref> packaging can compromise efforts to reduce food waste in other ways, such as by contaminating waste that could be used for animal feedstocks with plastics.<ref>{{cite web |title=Review of Food Waste Depackaging Equipment |year=2009 |url=http://www.wrap.org.uk/downloads/Food_waste_depackaging_equipment_FINAL_REPORT_April_09.77908caa.6989.pdf |website=Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110907112707/http://www.wrap.org.uk/downloads/Food_waste_depackaging_equipment_FINAL_REPORT_April_09.77908caa.6989.pdf |access-date=2009-09-27 |archive-date=2011-09-07}}</ref> thumb|180px|Wasted Retail Soup Can Item, US
In 2013, the nonprofit Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) performed research that suggests that the leading cause of food waste in America is due to uncertainty over food expiration dates, such as confusion in deciphering best-before, sell-by, or use-by dates.<ref name="NRDC">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nrdc.org/media/2013/130918|title=New Report: Food Expiration Date Confusion Causing up to 90% of Americans to Waste Food|work=NRDC|access-date=2017-11-30|archive-date=2017-12-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201035737/https://www.nrdc.org/media/2013/130918|url-status=live}}</ref> Joined by Harvard's Food Law and Policy Clinic, the NRDC produced a study called ''The Dating Game: How Confusing Food Date Labels Leads to Food Waste in America''.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2016/jun/26/food-waste-walmart-date-labels|title=Can Walmart's food labels make a dent in America's $29bn food waste problem?|last=Greenaway|first=Twilight|date=2016-06-26|work=The Guardian|access-date=2017-12-01|issn=0261-3077|archive-date=2017-11-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171130214439/https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2016/jun/26/food-waste-walmart-date-labels|url-status=live}}</ref> This United States-based study looked at the intertwining laws which lead labeling to end up unclear and erratic.<ref>{{Cite book|title=What the Fork Are You Eating?: An Action Plan for Your Pantry and Plate|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P43ZCwAAQBAJ&q=%22The+Dating+Game%22+How+Confusing+Food+Date+Labels+Leads+to+Food+Waste&pg=PA155|last=Sacks|first=Stefanie|date=2014|publisher=Penguin Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-399-16796-6|page=155|access-date=2020-10-31 |archive-date=2023-03-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230302035330/https://books.google.com/books?id=P43ZCwAAQBAJ&q=%22The+Dating+Game%22+How+Confusing+Food+Date+Labels+Leads+to+Food+Waste&pg=PA155|url-status=live}}</ref> This uncertainty leads to consumers to toss food, most often because they think the food may be unsafe or misunderstand the labeling on the food completely. Lack of regulation on labeling can result in large quantities of food being removed from the market overall.<ref name="NRDC" />
Retail stores throw away large quantities of food. Usually, this consists of items that have reached either their best-before, sell-by, or use-by dates. Some stores make an effort to markdown these goods with systems like discount stickers, stores have widely varying policies to handle the above-mentioned foods. Much of the food discarded by stores is still edible. Some stores put efforts into preventing access to poor or homeless people, while others work with charitable organization to distribute food. Retailers also contribute to waste as a result of their contractual arrangements with suppliers. Failure to supply agreed quantities renders farmers or processors liable to have their contracts cancelled. As a consequence, they plan to produce more than actually required to meet the contract, to have a margin of error. Surplus production is often simply disposed of.<ref name="Stuart-2009">*{{Cite book | title = Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal: The True Cost of What the Global Food Industry Throws Away | first = Tristram | last = Stuart | publisher = Penguin | year = 2009 | isbn = 978-0-14-103634-2}}</ref>
Retailers usually have strict cosmetic standards for produce, and if fruits or vegetables are misshapen or superficially bruised, they are often not put on the shelf. In the United States, some of the estimated six billion pounds of produce wasted each year are discarded because of appearance.<ref>{{Cite web|title = 6 Billion Pounds Of Perfectly Edible Produce Is Wasted Every Year Because It's Ugly|url = http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/19/food-waste-ugly-fruits-and-vegs-dont-judge_n_7309432.html|website = The Huffington Post|access-date = 2015-12-17|date = 2015-05-19|archive-date = 2015-12-22 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151222122826/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/19/food-waste-ugly-fruits-and-vegs-dont-judge_n_7309432.html|url-status = live}}</ref> The USDA publishes guidelines used as a baseline assessment by produce distributors, grocery stores, restaurants and other consumers in order to rate the quality of food.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ams.usda.gov/grades-standards|title=USDA Grades and Standards|website=USDA|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150805010915/http://www.ams.usda.gov/grades-standards|archive-date=2015-08-05}}</ref> These guidelines and how they rate are readily available on their website. For example, apples get graded by their size, color, wax residue, firmness, and skin appearance. If apples rank highly in these categories and show close to no superficial defects, they are rated as "U.S. Extra Fancy" or "U.S. Fancy", the typical ratings sought out by grocery stores when purchasing their produce.<ref name="Apple Grades and Standards">{{Cite web|url=https://www.ams.usda.gov/grades-standards/apple-grades-standards|title=Apple Grades and Standards|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905114241/http://www.ams.usda.gov/grades-standards/apple-grades-standards|archive-date=2015-09-05}}</ref> Any apples with suboptimal levels of appearance are ranked as either "U.S. Number 1" or "Utility" and are not normally purchased for retail, as recommended by produce marketing sources, despite being safe and edible.<ref name="Apple Grades and Standards" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://fns-prod.azureedge.net/sites/default/files/quality_fruit.pdf|title=Fruit Product Sheet|website=Produce Marketing Association|access-date=2017-11-30 |archive-date=2017-12-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201042440/https://fns-prod.azureedge.net/sites/default/files/quality_fruit.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> A number of regional programs and organizations have been established by the EPA and USDA in an attempt to reduce such produce waste.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.usda.gov/about-food/food-safety/food-loss-and-waste/food-waste-activities|title=Food Waste Activities|access-date=2021-06-08|archive-date=2021-06-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210609031745/https://www.usda.gov/foodwaste/activities|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.epa.gov/sustainable-management-food/regional-resources-reduce-and-divert-wasted-food-across-united-states|title=Wasted Food Programs and Resources Across the United States|date=23 May 2016|access-date=2021-06-08|archive-date=2021-06-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210609033244/https://www.epa.gov/sustainable-management-food/wasted-food-programs-and-resources-across-united-states|url-status=live}}</ref> Organizations in other countries, such as Good & Fugly in Australia and No Food Waste in India, are making similar efforts worldwide.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.farmweekly.com.au/story/7192030/plans-for-imperfect-fruit-and-vegetables/|website=Farm Weekly|title=Plans for imperfect fruit and vegetables|date=2021-04-02|access-date=2021-06-08|archive-date=2021-04-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210423095053/https://www.farmweekly.com.au/story/7192030/plans-for-imperfect-fruit-and-vegetables/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/food-waste-index-report-india-coronavirus-hunder-index-7261909/|title=India has a food wastage problem. Here's how individuals can make a difference|date=2021-04-07|access-date=2021-06-08|archive-date=2021-06-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210609031751/https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/food-waste-index-report-india-coronavirus-hunder-index-7261909/|url-status=live}}</ref> The popular trend of selling "imperfect" produce at retail has been criticized for overlooking existing markets for these foods (e.g. the food processing industry and bargain grocery stores) and downplaying the household-level wasting of food that is statistically a larger part of the overall problem.<ref>{{Cite news|title = Farms Aren't Tossing Perfectly Good Produce. You Are.|url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/posteverything/wp/2019/03/08/feature/farms-arent-tossing-perfectly-good-produce-you-are/|newspaper = The Washington Post|access-date = 2022-09-18|date = 2019-03-08|archive-date = 2022-05-28 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220528025418/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/posteverything/wp/2019/03/08/feature/farms-arent-tossing-perfectly-good-produce-you-are/|url-status = live}}</ref>
The fishing industry wastes substantial amounts of food: about 40–60% of fish caught in Europe is discarded as the wrong size or wrong species.
This comes to about 2.3 million tonnes per annum in the North Atlantic and the North Sea.<ref name="Stuart-2009" />
=== Food-service industry === [[File:Food waste Seoul.jpg|thumb|Lunch leftovers in a restaurant in Seoul]]Addressing food waste requires involving multiple stakeholders throughout the food supply chain, which is a market-driven system. Each stakeholder and their food waste quantification can be dependent on geographical scales.<ref name="Parfitt-2010">{{Cite journal |last1=Parfitt |first1=Julian |last2=Barthel |first2=Mark |last3=Macnaughton |first3=Sarah |date=2010-09-27 |title=Food waste within food supply chains: quantification and potential for change to 2050 |journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |volume=365 |issue=1554 |pages=3065–3081 |doi=10.1098/rstb.2010.0126 |issn=0962-8436 |pmc=2935112 |pmid=20713403}}</ref> This geographical scale then results in the production of different definitions of food waste, as mentioned earlier, with respect to the complexities of food supply chains and then create a narrative that further shows the needs for specific research on important stakeholders.<ref name="Parfitt-2010" /> The food service industry suggests to be a key stakeholder to achieve mitigation.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Sakaguchi |first1=Leo |last2=Pak |first2=Nina |last3=Potts |first3=Matthew D. |date=April 2018 |title=Tackling the issue of food waste in restaurants: Options for measurement method, reduction and behavioral change |journal=Journal of Cleaner Production |volume=180 |pages=430–436 |doi=10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.12.136 |s2cid=58898775 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2018JCPro.180..430S }}</ref> The key players within the food service industry include the manufacturers, producers, farmers, managers, employees, and consumers. The key factors relating to food waste in restaurants include the food menu, the production procedure, the use of pre-prepared versus whole food products, dinnerware size, type of ingredients used, the dishes served, opening hours, and disposal methods.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Dhir |first1=Amandeep |last2=Talwar |first2=Shalini |last3=Kaur |first3=Puneet |last4=Malibari |first4=Areej |date=October 2020 |title=Food waste in hospitality and food services: A systematic literature review and framework development approach |journal=Journal of Cleaner Production |volume=270 |article-number=122861 |doi=10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.122861 |s2cid=225643816|doi-access=free |bibcode=2020JCPro.27022861D }}</ref> These factors then can be categorized in the different stages of operations that relate to pre-kitchen, kitchen-based, and post-kitchen processes.<ref>{{Cite journal |author1=Viachaslau Filimonau |author2=Hafize Fidan |author3=Iordanka Alexieva |author4=Stefan Dragoev |author5=Denitsa Dimitrova Marinova |date=October 2019 |title=Restaurant food waste and the determinants of its effective management in Bulgaria: An exploratory case study of restaurants in Plovdiv |url=http://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/33481/3/R3%20%283%29.pdf |url-status=live |journal=Tourism Management Perspectives |volume=32 |article-number=100577 |doi=10.1016/j.tmp.2019.100577 |issn=2211-9736 |s2cid=211783930 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230302035307/http://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/33481/3/R3%20%283%29.pdf |archive-date=2023-03-02 |access-date=2023-01-22}}</ref>
In restaurants in developing countries, the lack of infrastructure and associated technical and managerial skills in food production have been identified as the key drivers in the creation of food waste currently and in the future.<ref name="Parfitt-2010" /> Comparatively, the majority of food waste in developed countries tends to be produced post-consumer, which is driven by the low prices of food, greater disposable income, consumers' high expectations of food cosmetic standards, and the increasing disconnect between consumers and how food is being produced (Urbanization).<ref name="Parfitt-2010" /> That being said, in United States restaurants alone, an estimated 22 to 33 billion pounds are wasted each year.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Problem of Food Waste |url=https://foodprint.org/issues/the-problem-of-food-waste/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221115162731/https://foodprint.org/issues/the-problem-of-food-waste/ |archive-date=2022-11-15 |access-date=2022-11-15 |website=FoodPrint}}</ref>
Serving plate size reduction has been identified as an intervention effective at reducing restaurant food waste.<ref name="Reynolds-2019">{{Cite journal |last1=Reynolds |first1=Christian |last2=Goucher |first2=Liam |last3=Quested |first3=Tom |last4=Bromley |first4=Sarah |last5=Gillick |first5=Sam |last6=Wells |first6=Victoria K. |last7=Evans |first7=David |last8=Koh |first8=Lenny |last9=Carlsson Kanyama |first9=Annika |last10=Katzeff |first10=Cecilia |last11=Svenfelt |first11=Åsa |last12=Jackson |first12=Peter |date=2019-02-01 |title=Review: Consumption-stage food waste reduction interventions – What works and how to design better interventions |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S030691921830318X |journal=Food Policy |language=en |volume=83 |pages=7–27 |doi=10.1016/j.foodpol.2019.01.009 |s2cid=159069828 |issn=0306-9192|hdl=1983/7648588b-f7cc-44e3-bff5-a99861d7b89f |hdl-access=free }}</ref> Under such interventions, restaurants decrease the size of plates for meals provided to diners. Similar interventions which have been found to be effective at reducing restaurant food waste include utilizing reusable rather than disposable plates and decreasing serving size.<ref name="Reynolds-2019" />
=== Food and agricultural nonprofits === Non-profit organizations concerned with food distribution often suffer waste due to improper handling. This results from poor training of volunteers and an unpredictable supply and demand, which makes the enforcement of proper handling difficult in these organizations.<ref name="Pezoldt-2024">{{Cite journal |last1=Pezoldt |first1=Amy |last2=McGilvery |first2=Karen |last3=Brown |first3=Kevin |last4=Papanek |first4=Alicia |last5=Simonne |first5=Amarat |last6=Wiley |first6=Kimberly |date=2024-07-01 |title=Ensuring Food Safety among Food and Agricultural Nonprofit Organizations: A Review of Literature about Challenges and Opportunities |url=https://www.foodprotection.org/publications/food-protection-trends/archive/2024-07-ensuring-food-safety-among-food-and-agricultural-nonprofit-organizations-a-review-of-literat/ |journal=Food Protection Trends |language=en |volume=44 |issue=4 |pages=283–291 |doi=10.4315/FPT-23-038|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
===Consumption=== Consumers are directly and indirectly responsible for wasting a lot of food, which could for a large part be avoided if they were willing to accept suboptimal food (SOF) that deviates in sensory characteristics (odd shapes, discolorations) or has a best-before date that is approaching or has passed, but is still perfectly fine to eat.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.3390/su7066457 |title=Consumer-Related Food Waste: Causes and Potential for Action |journal=Sustainability |volume=7 |issue=6 |pages=6457–77 |year=2015 |last1=Aschemann-Witzel |first1=Jessica |last2=De Hooge |first2=Ilona |last3=Amani |first3=Pegah |last4=Bech-Larsen |first4=Tino |last5=Oostindjer |first5=Marije |doi-access=free |bibcode=2015Sust....7.6457A |hdl=11250/297664 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> In addition to inedible and edible food waste generated by consumers, substantial amounts of food is wasted through food overconsumption, also referred to as metabolic food waste,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Serafini |first1=Mauro |last2=Toti |first2=Elisabetta |date=2016 |title=Unsustainability of Obesity: Metabolic Food Waste |journal=Frontiers in Nutrition |volume=3 |page=40 |doi=10.3389/fnut.2016.00040 |issn=2296-861X |pmc=5054064 |pmid=27774449|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Toti |first1=Elisabetta |last2=Di Mattia |first2=Carla |last3=Serafini |first3=Mauro |date=2019-08-23 |title=Metabolic Food Waste and Ecological Impact of Obesity in FAO World's Region |journal=Frontiers in Nutrition |volume=6 |article-number=126 |doi=10.3389/fnut.2019.00126 |issn=2296-861X |pmc=6715767 |pmid=31508421|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Toti |first1=Elisabetta |last2=Di Mattia |first2=Carla |last3=Serafini |first3=Mauro |date=2019-10-11 |title=Corrigendum: Metabolic Food Waste and Ecological Impact of Obesity in FAO World's Region |journal=Frontiers in Nutrition |volume=6 |article-number=160 |doi=10.3389/fnut.2019.00160 |issn=2296-861X |pmc=6798267 |pmid=31649933|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Sundin |first1=Niina |last2=Rosell |first2=Magdalena |last3=Eriksson |first3=Mattias |last4=Jensen |first4=Carl |last5=Bianchi |first5=Marta |date=November 2021 |title=The climate impact of excess food intake - An avoidable environmental burden |journal=Resources, Conservation and Recycling |volume=174 |article-number=105777 |doi=10.1016/j.resconrec.2021.105777|doi-access=free |bibcode=2021RCR...17405777S }}</ref> estimated globally as 10% of foods reaching the consumer.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Alexander |first1=Peter |last2=Brown |first2=Calum |last3=Arneth |first3=Almut |last4=Finnigan |first4=John |last5=Moran |first5=Dominic |last6=Rounsevell |first6=Mark D.A. |date=May 2017 |title=Losses, inefficiencies and waste in the global food system |journal=Agricultural Systems |volume=153 |pages=190–200 |doi=10.1016/j.agsy.2017.01.014 |pmc=5437836 |pmid=28579671|bibcode=2017AgSys.153..190A }}</ref> Several interventions have been designed to achieve food waste reduction at the consumer level, such as reducing portion size and changing plates. However, despite being practical to some extent, these interventions can result in unintended consequences due to the lack of understanding of underlying causes and what influences consumers to act on specific behaviors. Unintended consequences, for example, could be prioritizing unhealthy food at the expense of healthy food or reduced consumption and calorie intake in general.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Reynolds |first1=Christian |last2=Goucher |first2=Liam |last3=Quested |first3=Tom |last4=Bromley |first4=Sarah |last5=Gillick |first5=Sam |last6=Wells |first6=Victoria K. |last7=Evans |first7=David |last8=Koh |first8=Lenny |last9=Carlsson Kanyama |first9=Annika |last10=Katzeff |first10=Cecilia |last11=Svenfelt |first11=Åsa |last12=Jackson |first12=Peter |date=2019-02-01 |title=Review: Consumption-stage food waste reduction interventions – What works and how to design better interventions |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S030691921830318X |journal=Food Policy |volume=83 |pages=7–27 |doi=10.1016/j.foodpol.2019.01.009 |issn=0306-9192|hdl=1983/7648588b-f7cc-44e3-bff5-a99861d7b89f |hdl-access=free }}</ref>
=== By sector ===
==== Fruit and vegetables ==== {{Excerpt|Post-harvest losses (vegetables)}}
==== Grains ==== {{Excerpt|Post-harvest losses (grains)}}
==== Fishing ==== In 2011, FAO estimated that up to 35 percent of global fisheries and aquaculture production is either lost or wasted every year.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://openknowledge.fao.org/handle/20.500.14283/cd0683en |title=The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2024 |date=2024-06-07 |publisher=FAO |isbn=978-92-5-138763-4 |language=en |doi=10.4060/cd0683en}}{{Creative Commons text attribution notice|cc=by4|from this source=yes}}</ref>
== Extent == thumb|upright=1.6|Food loss from post-harvest to distribution in 2016, percentages globally and by region<ref name="FAO-2019"/> [[File:The Big Food Wasters.png|thumb|Food waste infographic produced by Next Generation Food, 2010]]
===Global extent=== Efforts are underway by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to measure progress towards SDG Target 12.3 through two separate indices: the Food Loss Index (FLI) and the Food Waste Index (FWI).<ref>{{Cite web|title=Technical Platform on the Measurement and Reduction of Food Loss and Waste|website=fao.org|url=https://www.fao.org/platform-food-loss-waste/en/|access-date=2021-06-21 |archive-date=2018-09-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180930054343/http://www.fao.org/food-loss-and-food-waste/en/|url-status=live}}</ref>
According to FAO's ''The State of Food and Agriculture 2019'', globally, in 2016, around 14 percent of the world's food is lost from production before reaching the retail level. Generally, levels of loss are higher for fruits and vegetables than for cereals and pulses. However, even for the latter, significant levels are found in sub-Saharan Africa and Eastern and South-Eastern Asia, while they are limited in Central and Southern Asia.<ref name="FAO-2019" />
Estimates from UN Environment's Food Waste Index suggest that about 931 million tonnes of food, or 17 percent of total food available to consumers in 2019, went into the waste bins of households, retailers, restaurants and other food services.<ref name="UNEP-2021"/>
According to a report from Feedback EU, the EU wastes 153 million tonnes of food each year, around double previous estimates.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-09-20 |title=EU wastes 153m tonnes of food a year – much more than it imports, says report |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/sep/20/eu-wastes-153m-tonnes-of-food-a-year-much-more-than-it-imports-says-report |access-date=2022-09-21 |website=The Guardian |archive-date=2022-09-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220921023457/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/sep/20/eu-wastes-153m-tonnes-of-food-a-year-much-more-than-it-imports-says-report |url-status=live }}</ref>
==== Earlier estimates ==== In 2011, an FAO publication based on studies carried out by The Swedish Institute for Food and Biotechnology (SIK) found that the total of global amount of food loss and waste was around one third of the edible parts of food produced for human consumption, amounting to about {{convert|1.3|e9t|sigfig=3}} per year.<ref name="Gustavson" />{{rp|4}} As the following table shows, industrialized and developing countries differ substantially. In developing countries, it is estimated that 400–500 calories per day per person are wasted, while in developed countries 1,500 calories per day per person are wasted.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://blogs.worldbank.org/voices/food-waste-bigger-problem-you-thought|title=Food Waste – a Bigger Problem Than You Thought|last=Kim|first=Jim Yong|date=2014-03-21|website=Voices|access-date=2016-04-28|archive-date=2016-10-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161011151401/http://blogs.worldbank.org/voices/food-waste-bigger-problem-you-thought|url-status=live}}</ref> In the former, more than 40% of losses occur at the post-harvest and processing stages, while in the latter, more than 40% of losses occur at the retail and consumer levels. The total food waste by consumers in industrialized countries ({{convert|222|e6t|disp=or}}) is almost equal to the entire food production in sub-Saharan Africa ({{convert|230|e6t|sigfig=3|disp=or}}).<ref name="Gustavson" />{{rp|4}}
{| class="wikitable" |+Food loss and waste per person per year (2007)<ref name=Gustavson/>{{rp|5}} ! Region !! Total !! At the production<br /> and retail stages !! By consumers |- | Europe || {{convert|280|kg|lbs|sigfig=3|abbr=on}} || {{convert|190|kg|lbs|sigfig=3|abbr=on}} || {{convert|90|kg|lbs|sigfig=3|abbr=on}} |- | North America and Oceania || {{convert|295|kg|lbs|abbr=on}} || {{convert|185|kg|lbs|sigfig=3|abbr=on}} || {{convert|110|kg|lbs|sigfig=3|abbr=on}} |- | Industrialized Asia || {{convert|240|kg|lbs|sigfig=3|abbr=on}} || {{convert|160|kg|sigfig=3|lbs|abbr=on}} || {{convert|80|kg|lbs|sigfig=3|abbr=on}} |- | Sub-Saharan Africa || {{convert|160|kg|lbs|sigfig=3|abbr=on}} || {{convert|155|kg|lbs|abbr=on}} || {{convert|5|kg|lbs|abbr=on}} |- | North Africa, West and Central Asia || {{convert|215|kg|lbs|abbr=on}} || {{convert|180|kg|lbs|sigfig=3|abbr=on}} || {{convert|35|kg|lbs|abbr=on}} |- | South and Southeast Asia || {{convert|125|kg|lbs|abbr=on}} || {{convert|110|kg|lbs|sigfig=3|abbr=on}} || {{convert|15|kg|lbs|abbr=on}} |- | Latin America || {{convert|225|kg|lbs|abbr=on}} || {{convert|200|kg|lbs|sigfig=3|abbr=on}} || {{convert|25|kg|lbs|abbr=on}} |}
A 2013 report from the British Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IME) likewise estimated that 30–50% (or {{convert|1.2|–|2|e9t|sigfig=3|disp=or}} <!-- 1.2–2 billion tonnes -->) of all food produced remains uneaten.<ref name="IME 2013">{{cite web|last=Institution of Mechanical Engineers|title=Global Food: Waste not, want not|url=http://www.imeche.org/docs/default-source/reports/Global_Food_Report.pdf?sfvrsn=0|access-date=2014-07-01|archive-date=2014-06-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140604084524/http://www.imeche.org/docs/default-source/reports/Global_Food_Report.pdf?sfvrsn=0|url-status=live}}</ref>
===Individual countries===
====Australia==== Each year in New South Wales, more than 25 million meals are delivered by charity OzHarvest from food that would otherwise be wasted.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/we-are-gluttons-our-excessive-food-habits-are-creating-a-global-wasteland-20190528-p51rvl.html|title='We are gluttons': our excessive food habits are creating a global wasteland|last=Wood|first=Stephanie|date=1 June 2019|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|access-date=5 June 2019|archive-date=2019-06-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190605072358/https://www.smh.com.au/national/we-are-gluttons-our-excessive-food-habits-are-creating-a-global-wasteland-20190528-p51rvl.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Each year, the Australian economy loses $20 billion in food waste. This has a crucial environmental impact through the waste of resources used to produce, manufacture, package, and distribute that food.<ref>{{Cite book|title=National Food Waste Strategy Halving Australia's Food Waste by 2030|last=Australian Government|year=2017|page=1}}</ref> Composting and worm farming in food-growing families divert over 361,000 tonnes of food waste—the equivalent of seven Sydney Harbour Bridges—from landfills annually.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Simpson |first=Evie |date=November 2024 |title=Grow your own—2024 |url=https://australiainstitute.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Grow-your-own-2024-Web.pdf |access-date=17 April 2024 |website=The Australia Institute}}</ref> Over four in ten (45%) Australians grow some of their own food, or around 9 million Australians.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Simpson |first=Evie |date=26 November 2024 |title=Grow your own – 2024 |url=https://australiainstitute.org.au/report/grow-your-own-2024/ |access-date=17 April 2025 |website=The Australia Institute}}</ref> Research by the Australia Institute shows more than half (52%) of Australian households grow some of their own food, with an additional 13% intending to start. Despite this widespread participation, yields are generally low and turnover is high. Key motivations include health benefits, better taste, and cost savings.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wise |first=Poppy |date=31 March 2014 |title=Grow your own |url=https://australiainstitute.org.au/report/grow-your-own/ |access-date=17 April 2025 |website=The Australia Institute}}</ref>
In addition, it is estimated that 7.6 million tonnes of CO<sub>2</sub> is generated by the disposed food in landfills, costing households $19.3 billion.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Anderson |first1=Lilia |last2=Grudnoff |first2=Matt |last3=Hawking |first3=Tom |last4=Campbell |first4=Rod |date=18 September 2023 |title=Food Waste in Australia |url=https://australiainstitute.org.au/report/food-waste-in-australia/ |access-date=17 April 2025 |website=The Australia Institute}}</ref> It is also the cause of odour, leaching, and potential generation for diseases. In March 2019, the Australian ministry of the environment shared the key findings of Australia's National food waste baseline, which will facilitate the tracking of the progress towards their goal to halve Australian food waste by 2030.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.environment.gov.au/|title=Department of the Environment and Energy|website=Department of the Environment and Energy|access-date=2019-11-25|archive-date=2019-05-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190511213226/http://environment.gov.au/|url-status=live}}</ref>
Many initiatives were taken by the Australian government in order to help achieve this goal. In fact, they financed $1.2 million in organization that invest in renewable energies systems to store and transport food. They also funded more than $10 million for research on food waste reduction. Local governments have also implemented programs such as information sessions on storing food and composting, diversion of waste from restaurants and cafes from landfills to shared recycling facilities and donation of food to organization that would otherwise be wasted. Research shows people are twice as likely to reduce food waste for financial reasons than for altruistic ones. Households motivated by saving money wasted $100 less than those who weren't.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Baker |first1=David |last2=Fear |first2=Josh |last3=Denniss |first3=Richard |date=5 November 2009 |title=What a waste: An analysis of household expenditure on food |url=https://australiainstitute.org.au/report/what-a-waste-an-analysis-of-household-expenditure-on-food/}}</ref>
There are also coal mining and coal seam gas drilling disrupt vital aquifers, affecting agriculture and ecosystems. These industries have discharged contaminated water into rivers, with no clear solution for managing the polluted byproducts of gas extraction. Their long-term environmental and social impacts have prompted calls for stronger federal protections for Australia's food, water, and communities.<ref>{{Cite web |last=The Australian Network of Environmental Defender's Offices |date=21 August 2013 |title=Coal and gas mining in Australia |url=https://australiainstitute.org.au/report/coal-and-gas-mining-in-australia/ |access-date=17 April 2025 |website=The Australia Institute}}</ref>
Polling shows strong public support in Australia for food waste reforms, with 78% backing clearer date labelling and 72% supporting relaxed cosmetic standards. Despite this, 81% believe individuals also share responsibility for reducing waste.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Anderson |first1=Lilia |last2=Grudnoff |first2=Matt |last3=Campbell |first3=Rod |date=18 September 2023 |title=Food Waste in Australia |url=https://australiainstitute.org.au/report/food-waste-in-australia/ |access-date=17 April 2025 |website=The Australia Institute}}</ref>
===== Brazil ===== According to the Global Food Donation Policy Atlas, approximately 26.3 million tonnes of food is lost or wasted along the supply chain. Brazil is also facing an estimated 61.3 million people dealing with food insecurity. Brazil's government has made plans to prioritize these issues in their national policy agenda <ref>{{Cite web |title=Brazil |url=https://atlas.foodbanking.org/country/brazil/ |access-date=2026-04-23 |website=The Global Food Donation Policy Atlas |language=en-US}}</ref>
A 2026 study of supermarkets in Brazil found that over 2,000 kg of fruits and vegetables were wasted weekly per store, along with that creating significant greenhouse gas emissions and highlighting retail and produce as a key area of intervention in Brazil's food waste system.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Marangoni |first=Suzana Márcia |last2=Brancoli |first2=Pedro |last3=Scalco |first3=Andréa Rossi |date=2026-03-01 |title=Environmental impacts caused by food waste: A case study in Brazilian supermarkets |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772912526000011 |journal=Cleaner Waste Systems |volume=13 |article-number=100468 |doi=10.1016/j.clwas.2026.100468 |issn=2772-9125}}</ref>
====Canada ==== In Canada, 58% of all food is wasted, amounting to 35.5 million tonnes of food per annuum.<ref name="Janus-2019">{{Cite news|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/food-waste-report-second-harvest-1.4981728|title=More than half of all food produced in Canada is lost or wasted, report says|last=Janus|first=Andrea|date=January 17, 2019|work=CBC|access-date=November 25, 2019|archive-date=2019-11-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191120043906/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/food-waste-report-second-harvest-1.4981728|url-status=live}}</ref> The value of this lost food is equivalent to CA$21 billion. Such quantities of food would be enough to feed all Canadians for five months. It is estimated that about one-third of this waste could be spared and sent to those in need.<ref name="Janus-2019" /> There are many factors that contribute to such large-scale waste. Manufacturing and processing food alone incur costs of CA$21 billion, or 4.82 million tons. Per household, it is estimated that $1,766 is lost in food loss and waste.<ref name="Janus-2019" /> The Government of Canada identifies three main factors contributing to household waste: (1) buying too much food and not eating it before it spoils, (2) malfunctioning or poorly designed packaging that does not deter spoilage rates or contamination, and (3) improper disposing of food – using garbage bins instead of those intended for organic waste.
Canada, Mexico, and the United States are working together under the Commission for Environmental Cooperation in order to address the severe problem of food waste in North America.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/managing-reducing-waste/food-loss-waste.html|title=Food loss and waste|last=Canada|first=Environment and Climate Change|date=2018-10-19|website=aem|access-date=2019-11-25|archive-date=2019-09-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190925215113/https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/managing-reducing-waste/food-loss-waste.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
Canada specifically is working in the following ways to reduce food waste:
* Canada pledged to consult on strategies in the [https://www.canada.ca/en/services/environment/weather/climatechange/climate-action/short-lived-climate-pollutants.html Strategy on Short-lived Climate Pollutants] to reduce avoidable food waste within the country. This will help to reduce methane emissions from Canadian landfills. * The government has implemented a [https://www.canada.ca/en/campaign/food-policy.html Food Policy for Canada] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200929152220/https://www.canada.ca/en/campaign/food-policy.html |date=2020-09-29 }}, which is a movement towards a more sustainable food system. * In February 2019, the government brought together several experts from different sectors to share ideas and discuss opportunities for measuring and reducing food loss and waste across the food supply chain.
During the 2022 Quebec general election, Québec solidaire party spokesman Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois stated that ending food waste in Quebec would be a priority of the party if they were in government. The party seeks to cut food waste by 50% by mandating large businesses and institutions to give unsold food to groups that would distribute the food, or to businesses that would process the food.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Serebrin |first=Jacob |date=September 19, 2022 |title=Quebec Liberal leader faces questions about her political future |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/dominique-anglade-future-1.6587889 |access-date=September 30, 2022 |website=CBC}}</ref>
====China==== In 2015 the Chinese Academy of Sciences reported that in big cities there was 17 to 18 million tons of food waste, enough to feed over 30 million people. About 25% of the waste was staple foods and about 18% from meat.<ref name=guardian-20201223/>
In August 2020 the Chinese Communist Party general secretary Xi Jinping said the amount of food waste was shocking and distressing. A local authority campaign "Operation empty plate" ({{lang-zh|c=光盘行动|p=Guāngpán xíngdòng }}) was started to reduce waste, including encouraging food outlets to limit orders to one fewer main dish than the number of customers.<ref name=guardian-20201223/>
As of December 2020, a draft law is under consideration to penalise food outlets if they encourage or mislead customers to order excessive meals causing obvious waste, first with a warning and then fines of up to 10,000 yuan. It would allow restaurants to charge customers who leave excessive leftovers. Broadcasters-– radio, TV, or online – which produces publishes or disseminates the promotion of food waste, including overeating. who promote overeating or food waste could also be fined up to 100,000 yuan.<ref name=guardian-20201223>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/23/china-to-bring-in-law-against-food-waste-with-fines-for-promoting-overeating |title=China to bring in law against food waste with fines for promoting overeating |last=Davidson |first=Helen |newspaper=The Guardian |date=23 December 2020 |access-date=30 December 2020 |archive-date=2021-01-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210101211149/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/23/china-to-bring-in-law-against-food-waste-with-fines-for-promoting-overeating |url-status=live }}</ref>
====Denmark==== According to Ministry of Environment (Denmark), over 700,000 tonnes per year of food is wasted every year in Denmark in the entire food value chain from farm to fork.<ref name='The Huffington Post'>{{cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/will-denmark-become-a-wor_b_9703260|title=Will Denmark Win The Global Race Against Food Waste?|author=Selina Juul|work=The Huffington Post|access-date=2016-04-19|date=2016-04-19|archive-date=2016-09-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160911120451/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/will-denmark-become-a-wor_b_9703260|url-status=live}}</ref> Due to the work of activist Selina Juul's Stop Wasting Food movement, Denmark has achieved a national reduction in food waste by 25% in 5 years (2010–2015).<ref name='The Guardian'>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/jul/13/how-did-denmark-become-a-leader-in-the-food-waste-revolution|title=How did Denmark become a leader in the food waste revolution?|author=Helen Russell|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=2016-07-13|date=2016-07-13|archive-date=2016-07-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160713112543/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/jul/13/how-did-denmark-become-a-leader-in-the-food-waste-revolution|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name='Deutsche Welle'>{{cite web|url=http://www.dw.com/en/denmark-leads-europe-in-tackling-food-waste/a-19407250|title=Denmark leads Europe in tackling food waste|author=Irene Hell|work=Deutsche Welle|access-date=2016-07-18|archive-date=2016-07-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160718133818/http://www.dw.com/en/denmark-leads-europe-in-tackling-food-waste/a-19407250|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name='National Geographic'>{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalgeographic.com/people-and-culture/food/the-plate/2016/09/denmark-harnesses-its-own-culture-to-stop-food-waste/|title=Denmark Capitalizes on Culture to Stop Food Waste|author=Jonathan Bloom|work=National Geographic|access-date=2016-09-26|archive-date=2018-11-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181116080632/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/people-and-culture/food/the-plate/2016/09/denmark-harnesses-its-own-culture-to-stop-food-waste/}}</ref><ref name='BBC'>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20170124-the-country-where-unwanted-food-is-selling-out|title=The country where unwanted food is selling out|author=Prathap Nair|work=BBC|date=January 24, 2017 |access-date=2017-01-24|archive-date=2017-01-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170124233751/http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20170124-the-country-where-unwanted-food-is-selling-out|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name='BBC World Hacks'>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04skkvc|title=Denmark's Food Waste Vigilante|author=Harriet Noble|work=BBC World Hacks|access-date=2017-02-18|archive-date=2017-02-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170218033014/http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04skkvc|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name='BBC News'>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-39083056|title=How one woman is winning the fight against food waste|author=Kathleen Hawkins|work=BBC News|access-date=2017-02-27|archive-date=2017-02-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170227090648/http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-39083056|url-status=live}}</ref>
==== France ==== thumb|Food waste In France, approximately 1.3–1.9 million tonnes of food waste is produced every year, or between 20 and 30 kilograms per person per year.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=De Clercq|first1=Djavan|last2=Wen |first2=Zongguo |last3=Gottfried|first3=Oliver|last4=Schmidt|first4=Franziska|last5=Fei|first5=Fan |date=2017-11-01|title=A review of global strategies promoting the conversion of food waste to bioenergy via anaerobic digestion |journal=Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews|volume=79|pages=204–221 |doi=10.1016/j.rser.2017.05.047|bibcode=2017RSERv..79..204D |issn=1364-0321}}</ref> Out of the 10 million tonnes of food lost or wasted in the country, 7.1 million tonnes are wasted, with only 11% coming from supermarkets.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/how-france-became-a-global-leader-in-curbing-food-waste-2018-1|title=France was the first country to ban supermarkets from throwing away unused food — and the world is taking notice|last=Hinckley|first=Story|website=Business Insider|access-date=2019-11-25|archive-date=2019-10-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191021210018/https://www.businessinsider.com/how-france-became-a-global-leader-in-curbing-food-waste-2018-1|url-status=live}}</ref> This costs the French government €16 billion per year. In France, food waste emits 15.3 million tonnes of CO<sub>2</sub>, which represents 3% of the country's total CO<sub>2</sub> emission.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://blog.winnowsolutions.com/4-ways-france-is-leading-the-food-waste-agenda|title=4 ways France is leading the food waste agenda|last=Lemos|first=Liv|website=blog.winnowsolutions.com|access-date=2019-11-25|archive-date=2020-12-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201202114356/https://blog.winnowsolutions.com/4-ways-france-is-leading-the-food-waste-agenda|url-status=live}}</ref> In response to this issue, in 2016, France became the first country in the world to pass a unanimous legislation that bans supermarkets from throwing away or destroying unsold food. Instead, supermarkets are expected to donate such food to charities and food banks.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/04/french-law-forbids-food-waste-by-supermarkets|title=French law forbids food waste by supermarkets|last=Chrisafis|first=Angelique|date=2016-02-04|work=The Guardian|access-date=2019-11-25|issn=0261-3077|archive-date=2020-05-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200503040623/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/04/french-law-forbids-food-waste-by-supermarkets|url-status=live}}</ref> In addition to donating food, many businesses claim to prevent food waste by selling soon-to-be wasted products at discounted prices. [https://agriculture.gouv.fr/antigaspi The National Pact Against Food Waste] in France has outlined eleven measures to achieve a food waste reduction by half by 2025.<ref>{{Cite web|website=NRDC|url=https://www.nrdc.org/resources/france-moves-toward-national-policy-against-food-waste|title=France Moves Toward a National Policy Against Food Waste|last=Mourad|first=Marie|date=2015|access-date=2019-11-25|archive-date=2020-09-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200922051542/https://www.nrdc.org/resources/france-moves-toward-national-policy-against-food-waste|url-status=live}}</ref>
==== Hungary ==== According to the research of the Hungarian national food waste prevention programme, Project Wasteless,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dávid |first1=Szakos |last2=Barbara |first2=Szabó-Bódi |last3=Gyula |first3=Kasza |date=2020 |title=Consumer awareness campaign to reduce household food waste based on structural equation behavior modeling in Hungary |journal=Environmental Science and Pollution Research |volume=28 |issue=19 |pages=24580–24589 |doi=10.1007/s11356-020-09047-x |issn=0944-1344 |pmc=8144144 |pmid=32588298 |s2cid=220050818 |doi-access=free}}</ref> hosted by the National Food Chain Safety Office, an average Hungarian consumer generated 68 kg food waste annually in 2016, and 49% of this amount could have been prevented (avoidable food waste).<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Szabó-Bódi|first1=Barbara|last2=Kasza|first2=Gyula|last3=Szakos|first3=Dávid|date=2018-03-05|title=Assessment of household food waste in Hungary|journal=British Food Journal|volume=120|issue=3|pages=625–638|doi=10.1108/bfj-04-2017-0255|issn=0007-070X}}</ref> The research team replicated the study in 2019,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gyula |first1=Kasza |last2=Annamária |first2=Dorkó |last3=Atilla |first3=Kunszabó |last4=Dávid |first4=Szakos |title=Quantification of Household Food Waste in Hungary: A Replication Study Using the FUSIONS Methodology |journal=Sustainability |date=2020 |volume=12 |issue=8 |page=3069 |doi=10.3390/su12083069 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2020Sust...12.3069K }}</ref> According to the second measurement, food waste generated by the Hungarian households was estimated to be 65.5 kg per capita annually. Between the two periods, a 4% decrease was observed, despite significant economic expansion, likely due to the very intense media campaign of Project Wasteless. COVID-19 significantly affected the food waste behaviour of Hungarians:<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Madarász |first1=Tamás |last2=Kontor |first2=Enikő |last3=Antal |first3=Emese |last4=Kasza |first4=Gyula |last5=Szakos |first5=Dávid |last6=Szakály |first6=Zoltán |date=January 2022 |title=Food Purchase Behavior during The First Wave of COVID-19: The Case of Hungary |journal=International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health |language=en |volume=19 |issue=2 |page=872 |doi=10.3390/ijerph19020872 |doi-access=free |issn=1660-4601 |pmc=8775895 |pmid=35055687}}</ref> while the total food waste basically did not change, the edible (avoidable) and inedible (unavoidable) fractions show a particular transformation. Spending more time at home the discarded leftovers were reduced, resulting in a drop from 32 to 25 kg/capita/year in avoidable food waste, while home cooking became more prevalent, contributing to a significant rise in the amount of unavoidable food waste from 31 to 36{{Nbsp}}kg/capita/year. The last measurement in 2022 reports 59.9{{Nbsp}}kg/capita/year food waste production in the households, and the avoidable food waste part of it is 24 kg (40%). This indicates a reduction of 12% in total food waste and a reduction of 27% in avoidable food waste since the first measurement in 2016.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Újabb lépés a fenntarthatóság felé: a magyar háztartások egyre kevesebb élelmiszert pazarolnak - Nébih |url=https://portal.nebih.gov.hu/-/ujabb-lepes-a-fenntarthatosag-fele-a-magyar-haztartasok-egyre-kevesebb-elelmiszert-pazarolnak |access-date=2024-03-29 |website=portal.nebih.gov.hu}}</ref>
In 2021, The Hungarian Parliament passed a law dealing with food waste.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://hungarytoday.hu/hungary-law-supermarket-chains-foreign-food-waste/|title=Parl't Passes New Bill Dealing Severe Blow to Hungary's Largest, Foreign Supermarket Chains|date=December 14, 2021|access-date=April 4, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://dailynewshungary.com/this-is-how-the-government-wants-to-reduce-hungarys-food-waste/|title=This is how the government wants to reduce Hungary's food waste|date=December 30, 2021|website=Daily News Hungary|access-date=April 4, 2023}}</ref>
==== Italy ==== According to REDUCE project, which produced the first baseline dataset for Italy based on official EU methodological framework, food waste is 530 g per person per week at household stage (only edible fraction); food waste in school canteens corresponds to 586 g per pupil per week; retail food waste per capita, per year corresponds to 2.9 kg. See [https://www.sprecozero.it/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/REDUCE-FINAL_SDG-12.3-ITALY_FOOD-WASTE-1.pdf]
==== Netherlands ==== According to Meeusen & Hagelaar (2008), between 30% and 50% of all food produced was estimated to be lost or thrown away at that time in the Netherlands, while a 2010 Agriculture Ministry (LNV) report stated that the Dutch population wasted 'at least 9.5m tonnes of food per year, worth at least €4.4bn.'<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://edepot.wur.nl/188798|title=Reducing food waste - Obstacles experienced in legislation and regulations|last1=Waarts|first1=Yuca|last2=Eppink|first2=Mieke|date=October 2011|website=wur.nl|last3=Oosterkamp|first3=Elsje|last4=Hiller|first4=Sabine|last5=van der Sluis|first5=Addie|last6=Timmermans|first6=Toine|access-date=2019-03-04 |archive-date=2019-02-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190218100707/http://edepot.wur.nl/188798|url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|15}} In 2019, three studies into food waste in households in the Netherlands commissioned by the LNV were conducted, showing that the average household waste per capita had been reduced from 48 kilograms of "solid food (including dairy products, fats, sauces and soups)" in 2010, to 41.2 kilograms in 2016, to 34.3 kilograms in 2019.<ref name="2019 Synthesis report">{{Cite web |url=https://www.voedingscentrum.nl/Assets/Uploads/voedingscentrum/Documents/Professionals/Pers/Persmappen/Verspilling%202019/VC_Synthesis%20report%20on%20food%20waste%20in%20Dutch%20households%202019.pdf |title=Synthesis report on Food Waste in Dutch Households in 2019 |author=Corné van Dooren |work=Voedingscentrum (Netherlands Nutrition Centre Foundation) |date=October 2019 |access-date=5 August 2022 |archive-date=2022-08-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220805160348/https://www.voedingscentrum.nl/Assets/Uploads/voedingscentrum/Documents/Professionals/Pers/Persmappen/Verspilling%202019/VC_Synthesis%20report%20on%20food%20waste%20in%20Dutch%20households%202019.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>{{rp|3–4}} The waste of liquid foods (excluding beer and wine, first measured in 2019) that ended up in the sewer through sinks or toilets was analysed to have decreased from 57.3 litres per capita in 2010 to 45.5 litres in 2019.<ref name="2019 Synthesis report"/>{{rp|3–4, 7}}
====New Zealand==== {{Excerpt|Food waste in New Zealand}}Research done on household food waste in New Zealand found that larger households and households with more young people created more food waste. The average household in this case study put 40% of food waste into the rubbish.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Tucker|first1=C.A. |last2=Farrelly|first2=T.|date=2015-03-10|title=Household food waste: the implications of consumer choice in food from purchase to disposal |journal=Local Environment|volume=21|issue=6|pages=682–706 |doi=10.1080/13549839.2015.1015972|s2cid=154217938|issn=1354-9839}}</ref>
==== Nigeria ==== In Nigeria, it is estimated that they lose and waste about 40% their annual food production.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Harvard Research Addresses Food Waste, Hunger, and Climate Crisis in Nigeria |url=https://www.foodbanking.org/news/harvard-research-addresses-food-waste-hunger-and-climate-crisis-in-nigeria/ |access-date=2026-04-09 |website=The Global FoodBanking Network |language=en-US}}</ref> The numbers contribute to 5% of the country's greenhouse gas emissions. On the other side of this, it is also estimated that 14.5 million Nigerians suffer from food insecurity while 12.5 million remain hungry as well.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Amos |first=Kobor |date=2022-04-23 |title=UNICEF: 14.5m Nigerians suffer acute food insecurity |url=https://guardian.ng/news/unicef-14-5m-nigerians-suffer-acute-food-insecurity/ |access-date=2026-04-09 |website=The Guardian Nigeria News - Nigeria and World News |language=en-GB}}</ref> Reports from Nigeria's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development show that approximately 700,000 tons of tomatoes rot at waste every year.<ref>{{Citation |title=Food loss and waste in Nigeria: Implications for food security and environmental sustainability |date=2023-01-01 |work=Advances in Food Security and Sustainability |volume=8 |pages=217–233 |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/chapter/bookseries/abs/pii/S2452263523000034 |access-date=2026-02-24 |publisher=Elsevier |language=en-US}}</ref>
====Singapore==== In Singapore, {{convert|788,600|t}} of food was wasted in 2014.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/most-people-here-concerned-about-food-waste-poll|title=Most people here concerned about food waste: Poll|date=11 August 2015|work=The Straits Times|access-date=2015-10-26|archive-date=2016-01-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160118045935/http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/most-people-here-concerned-about-food-waste-poll|url-status=live}}</ref> Of that, {{convert|101,400|t}} were recycled.<ref>{{Cite web|website=Channel NewsAsia |url=http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/2-hawker-centres-to-pilot/2443904.html|title=2 hawker centres to pilot food waste recycling systems|access-date=2016-04-28|archive-date=2017-03-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170313082908/http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/2-hawker-centres-to-pilot/2443904.html}}</ref> Since Singapore has limited agriculture ability, the country spent about S$14.8 billion (US$10.6 billion) on importing food in 2014. US$1.4 billion of it ends up being wasted, or 13 percent.<ref>{{Cite web|website=Channel NewsAsia |url=http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/food-waste-where-food/2519366.html|title=Food waste: Where food matters, looks matter more|access-date=2016-04-27|archive-date=2017-03-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170312230107/http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/food-waste-where-food/2519366.html}}</ref>
On January 1, 2020, Singapore implemented the Zero Waste Masterplan which aims to reduce Singapore's daily waste production by 30 percent. The project also aims to extend the lifespan of the Semakau Landfill, Singapore's only landfill, beyond 2025.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Introduction|url=https://www.towardszerowaste.sg//zero-waste-masterplan/|access-date=2021-07-28|website=www.towardszerowaste.sg|archive-date=2020-06-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200613222207/https://www.towardszerowaste.sg/zero-waste-masterplan/|url-status=live}}</ref> As a direct result of the project, food waste dropped to 665,000 tonnes, showing a significant decrease from 2017's all-time high of 810,000 tonnes.<ref>{{Cite web|date=27 June 2021|title=Food Wastage Statistics in Singapore|url=https://www.bestinsingapore.co/food-wastage-statistics-singapore/|website=Best in Singapore|access-date=2021-07-28 |archive-date=2021-07-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210728053530/https://www.bestinsingapore.co/food-wastage-statistics-singapore/|url-status=live}}</ref>
====United Kingdom==== {{Excerpt|Food waste in the United Kingdom}} In the UK, it was stated in 2007 that {{convert|6,700,000|sigfig=3|t}} per year of wasted food (purchased and edible food which is discarded) amounted to a cost of £10.2 billion each year. This represented costs of £250 to £400 a year per household.<ref name="guardian">{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2007/oct/28/food.foodanddrink|title=Call to use leftovers and cut food waste|author=Juliette Jowit|work=The Guardian|date=28 October 2007|access-date=2015-09-22|archive-date=2015-11-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117133103/http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2007/oct/28/food.foodanddrink|url-status=live}}</ref> As of 2026, it was estimated that the UK generates approximately 9.5-9.6 tonnes of food waste annually and about 6.4 - 6.7 million tonnes is considered edible at the point of disposal.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Food Waste Statistics in the UK: 2026 Facts, Data & Key Insights |url=https://www.foodhygienecertificate.co.uk/blog/food-waste-statistics-uk |access-date=2026-02-09 |website=www.foodhygienecertificate.co.uk}}</ref>
====United States==== According to United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), between 30 and 40 percent of food in the U.S. is wasted.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Food Loss and Waste |url=https://www.usda.gov/about-usda/general-information/initiatives-and-highlighted-programs/peoples-garden/food-access-food-waste/food-loss-and-waste |access-date=2023-08-22 |website=www.usda.gov |language=en}}</ref> Estimates of food waste in the United States range from 35 million tons to 103 million tons.<ref name="Bellemare-2017" /> In a study done by National Geographic in 2014, Elizabeth Royte indicated more than 30 percent of food in the United States, valued at $162 billion annually, is not eaten.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/10/141013-food-waste-national-security-environment-science-ngfood/|title=One-Third of Food Is Lost or Wasted: What Can Be Done|date=2014-10-13|website=news.nationalgeographic.com|access-date=2016-04-25|archive-date=2016-04-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160424120207/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/10/141013-food-waste-national-security-environment-science-ngfood/}}</ref> The University of Arizona conducted a study in 2004 that indicated that 14% to 15% of United States edible food is untouched or unopened, amounting to $43 billion worth of discarded, but edible, food.<ref name="half">{{cite news | title=US wastes half its food | url=http://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/news/ng.asp?id=56376-us-wastes-half | access-date=2009-03-27 | archive-date=2008-07-05 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080705180607/http://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/news/ng.asp?id=56376-us-wastes-half | url-status=live }}</ref> In 2010, the United States Department of Agriculture came forth with estimations from the Economic Research Service that approximates food waste in the United States to be equivalent to 141 trillion calories.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/pub-details?pubid=43836|title=USDA ERS - The Estimated Amount, Value, and Calories of Postharvest Food Losses at the Retail and Consumer Levels in the United States|website=ers.usda.gov|access-date=2017-11-30|archive-date=2017-12-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201032249/https://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/pub-details/?pubid=43836|url-status=live}}</ref>
USDA data from 2010 shows that 26% of fish, meat, and poultry were thrown away at the retail and consumer level. Since then, meat production has increased by more than 10%. Data scientist Harish Sethu says this means that billions of animals are raised and slaughtered only to end up in a landfill.<ref>{{cite news |last=Torrella |first=Kenny |date=January 30, 2022 |title=Billions of animals are slaughtered every year — just to be wasted |url=https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/22890292/food-waste-meat-dairy-eggs-milk-animal-welfare |work=Vox |location= |access-date=January 31, 2022 |archive-date=2022-01-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220131140952/https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/22890292/food-waste-meat-dairy-eggs-milk-animal-welfare |url-status=live }}</ref>
==== Pakistan ==== In general, the Southern Asia region ranks first in terms of highest amount of food waste per household, with an average of 19 kg per capita per year to 212 kilograms per capita per year. The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) shows that there is an estimate of 30.7 million tonnes of household food waste in Pakistan.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Programme |first=United Nations Environment |url=https://wedocs.unep.org/handle/20.500.11822/45230 |title=Food Waste Index Report 2024. Think Eat Save: Tracking Progress to Halve Global Food Waste |date=2024 |isbn=978-92-807-4139-1 |language=English}}</ref> The main cause of food waste in Pakistan is caused by people saving food for further use in the future, although they fail to consume in later time. They prefer to eat fresh foods, and causes a lack of interest, mismanagement of meals, lack of time and eating which causes an ongoing cycle. The high-income households pose more of threat, due to the fact that they spend more on food and risk poor consumption management, leading to more food waste.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Khalid |first1=Samina |last2=Malik |first2=Aman Ullah |last3=Ullah |first3=Muhammad Irfan |last4=Khalid |first4=Muhammad Shafique |last5=Javeed |first5=Hafiz Muhammad Rashad |last6=Naeem |first6=Muhammad Asif |last7=Naseer |first7=Aqsa |date=2023-09-01 |title=Food waste: causes and economic losses estimation at household level in Pakistan |journal=Environmental Science and Pollution Research |language=en |volume=30 |issue=44 |pages=99284–99297 |doi=10.1007/s11356-023-28775-4 |bibcode=2023ESPR...3099284K |issn=1614-7499}}</ref>
==== Zimbabwe ==== Located in the Sub-Saharan African region, Zimbabwe shows an estimate of nearly 800,000 tonnes of household waste.<ref name=":0" /> According to the United Nations Human Settlement Programme, high income household waste roughly 0.41 kg/capita/day, where in comparison to low income household with only 0.28 kg/capita/day of waste. Food waste remains the main cause of waste, in comparison to other waste such as plastic, paper, glass and metal.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=2021 |title=Waste wise Cities tool |journal=Habitat, U. N.}}</ref>
==Impact ==
=== On the environment === thumb|Food waste is responsible for 6% of global greenhouse gas emissions According to United Nations, about a third of all human-caused greenhouse gas emissions is linked to food.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Food and Climate Change: Healthy diets for a healthier planet |url=https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/science/climate-issues/food |access-date=2023-08-22 |website=United Nations |language=en}}</ref> Empirical evidence at the global level on the environmental footprints for major commodity groups suggests that, if the aim is to reduce land use, the primary focus should be on meat and animal products, which account for 60 percent of the land footprint associated with food loss and waste.<ref name="FAO-2019" /> If the aim is to target water scarcity, cereals and pulses make the largest contribution (more than 70 percent), followed by fruits and vegetables.<ref name="FAO-2019" /> In terms of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with food loss and waste, the biggest contribution is again from cereals and pulses (more than 60 percent), followed by roots, tubers and oil-bearing crops.<ref name="FAO-2019" /> However, the environmental footprint for different commodities also varies across regions and countries, due, among other things, to differences in crop yields and production techniques.<ref name="FAO-2019" /> According to the IPCC 6th Assessment Report, the reduction of food waste would be beneficial for improving availability of resources such as "water, land-use, energy consumption" and the overall reduction of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere.<ref>Accelerating the transition in the context of 2 sustainable development, Ch 17 in "Climate Change 2022: Mitigation of Climate Change". www.ipcc.ch. Retrieved 2022-04-06.</ref>
=== On food insecurity === According to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, "everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food".<ref>{{Cite web |author=United Nations |title=Universal Declaration of Human Rights |url=https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights |access-date=2025-12-03 |website=United Nations |language=en}}</ref> Food waste and loss remains in contrast to widespread global food insecurity. For example, food loss in Africa is estimated to be twice the amount of calories needed to address deficiencies, and the surplus of food consumed in the United States due to physiological overconsumption could meet the caloric needs of people facing hunger in Africa.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Tóth |first1=Gergely |last2=Zachár |first2=János |date=2021-06-29 |title=Towards Food Justice – The Global-Economic Material Balance Analysis of Hunger, Food Security and Waste |journal=Agronomy |language=en |volume=11 |issue=7 |page=1324 |bibcode=2021Agron..11.1324T |doi=10.3390/agronomy11071324 |issn=2073-4395 |doi-access=free}}</ref>
== Prevention == {{multiple image | total_width = 400 | image1 = Waste not want not WWI poster.jpg | alt1 = | image2 = Food, Don't Waste It.jpg | alt2 = | footer = Limiting food wastage has seen the adoption of former World War I and World War II slogans by antiwaste groups such as WRAP.<ref name="guardian" /> }} thumb|Discounts on food nearing the expiration date in the Netherlands In 2022 United Nations Biodiversity Conference nations adopted an agreement for preserving biodiversity, including a commitment to reduce food waste by 50% by the year 2030.<ref name=CBD>{{cite web |title=COP15: Nations Adopt Four Goals, 23 Targets for 2030 in Landmark UN Biodiversity Agreement |url=https://www.cbd.int/article/cop15-cbd-press-release-final-19dec2022 |website=Convention on Biological Diversity |publisher=United Nations |access-date=9 January 2023 |archive-date=2022-12-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221220055316/https://www.cbd.int/article/cop15-cbd-press-release-final-19dec2022 |url-status=live }}</ref>
According to FAO's The State of Food and Agriculture 2019, the case for reducing food loss and waste includes gains that society can reap but which individual actors may not take into account, namely: (i) increased productivity and economic growth; (ii) improved food security and nutrition; and (iii) mitigation of environmental impacts of losing and wasting food, in particular terms of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG emissions as well as lowering pressure on land and water resources. The last two societal gains, in particular, are typically seen as externalities of reducing food loss and waste.<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://www.fao.org/documents/card/en/c/ca6122en|title=In brief: The State of Food and Agriculture 2019. Moving forward on food loss and waste reduction|author=FAO|year=2019|location=Rome|pages=14–15|access-date=2021-06-21 |archive-date=2021-04-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210429155350/http://www.fao.org/documents/card/en/c/ca6122en|url-status=live}}</ref>
Response to the problem of food waste at all social levels has varied hugely, including campaigns from advisory and environmental groups,<ref name="wraparticle">{{Cite web|url=http://www.wrap.org.uk/retail/food_waste/index.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100305071203/http://www.wrap.org.uk/retail/food_waste/index.html|title=Wrap – Household Food Waste|archive-date=March 5, 2010|access-date=April 4, 2023}}</ref> and concentrated media attention on the subject.<ref name="guardian" /><ref name="independent">{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/britains-colossal-food-waste-is-stoking-climate-change-398664.html|title=Britain's colossal food waste is stoking climate change|work=The Independent|access-date=2015-09-22|archive-date=2012-10-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121025215750/http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/britains-colossal-food-waste-is-stoking-climate-change-398664.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
As suggested by the food waste hierarchy, prevention and reuse pathways for human consumption have the highest priority levels for food waste treatment. The general approach to food waste reduction comprise two main pathways: ''prevention'' and ''valorisation''.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Brancoli |first1=Pedro |last2=Lundin |first2=Magnus |last3=Bolton |first3=Kim |last4=Eriksson |first4=Mattias |date=August 2019 |title=Bread loss rates at the supplier-retailer interface – Analysis of risk factors to support waste prevention measures |journal=Resources, Conservation and Recycling |volume=147 |pages=128–136 |doi=10.1016/j.resconrec.2019.04.027 |bibcode=2019RCR...147..128B |s2cid=165125605 |issn=0921-3449 }}</ref> Prevention of food waste infers all actions that reduce food production and ultimately prevent food from being produced in vain, such as food donations or re-processing into new food products. Valorisation on the other hand comprise actions that recover the materials, nutrients or energy in food waste, for instance by producing animal feed, fuel or energy from the "wastes" making it as potential resource.
Multiple studies have studied the environmental benefits of food waste prevention measures, including food donations,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Sundin |first1=Niina |last2=Persson Osowski |first2=Christine |last3=Strid |first3=Ingrid |last4=Eriksson |first4=Mattias |date=2022-06-01 |title=Surplus food donation: Effectiveness, carbon footprint, and rebound effect |journal=Resources, Conservation and Recycling |volume=181 |article-number=106271 |doi=10.1016/j.resconrec.2022.106271 |s2cid=247347392 |issn=0921-3449|doi-access=free |bibcode=2022RCR...18106271S }}</ref> recovery of unharvested vegetables for re-use in food production,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Eriksson |first1=Mattias |last2=Bartek |first2=Louise |last3=Löfkvist |first3=Klara |last4=Malefors |first4=Christopher |last5=Olsson |first5=Marie E. |date=January 2021 |title=Environmental Assessment of Upgrading Horticultural Side Streams—The Case of Unharvested Broccoli Leaves |journal=Sustainability |volume=13 |issue=10 |page=5327 |doi=10.3390/su13105327 |issn=2071-1050|doi-access=free |bibcode=2021Sust...13.5327E }}</ref> re-processing of surplus bread for beer production,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Brancoli |first1=Pedro |last2=Bolton |first2=Kim |last3=Eriksson |first3=Mattias |date=2020-11-01 |title=Environmental impacts of waste management and valorisation pathways for surplus bread in Sweden |journal=Waste Management |volume=117 |pages=136–145 |doi=10.1016/j.wasman.2020.07.043 |pmid=32823078 |bibcode=2020WaMan.117..136B |s2cid=221239106 |issn=0956-053X|doi-access=free }}</ref> and producing chutney or juice from leftovers.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Eriksson |first1=Mattias |last2=Spångberg |first2=Johanna |date=February 2017 |title=Carbon footprint and energy use of food waste management options for fresh fruit and vegetables from supermarkets |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0956053X17300089 |journal=Waste Management |volume=60 |pages=786–799 |doi=10.1016/j.wasman.2017.01.008 |pmid=28089203 |bibcode=2017WaMan..60..786E |access-date=2022-05-26 |archive-date=2022-06-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220615132650/https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0956053X17300089 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref> Food waste can also be used to produce multiple high-value products, such as a fish oil substitute for food or feed use via marine micro algae,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Bartek |first1=L. |last2=Strid |first2=I. |last3=Henryson |first3=K. |last4=Junne |first4=S. |last5=Rasi |first5=S. |last6=Eriksson |first6=M. |date=2021-07-01 |title=Life cycle assessment of fish oil substitute produced by microalgae using food waste |journal=Sustainable Production and Consumption |volume=27 |pages=2002–2021 |doi=10.1016/j.spc.2021.04.033 |s2cid=236313119 |issn=2352-5509|doi-access=free |bibcode=2021SusPC..27.2002B }}</ref> without compromising the ability to produce energy via biogas. The general consensus currently suggest that reducing food waste by either prevention or valorisation, for human consumption, infers higher environmental benefits compared to the lower priority levels, such as energy production or disposal.
=== Food rescue === {{main|food rescue}}
There are multiple initiatives that rescue food that would otherwise not be consumed by humans anymore. The food can come from supermarkets, restaurants or private households for example. Such initiatives are: * food banks, * online platforms like Too Good To Go and Olio, * public foodsharing shelves like those from foodsharing.de and * dumpster diving.
=== Consumer marketing === One way of dealing with food waste is to reduce its creation. Consumers can reduce spoilage by planning their food shopping, avoiding potentially wasteful spontaneous purchases, and storing foods properly (and also preventing a too large buildup of perishable stock).<ref name="wraparticle" /> Widespread educational campaigns have been shown to be an effective way to reduce food waste.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1080/10454446.2017.1244792 |title=Can Marketing Help in Tackling Food Waste?: Proposals in Developed Countries |journal=Journal of Food Products Marketing |volume=23 |issue=1 |pages=42–60 |year=2016 |last1=Calvo-Porral |first1=Cristina |last2=Medín |first2=Andrés Faiña |last3=Losada-López |first3=Chema |s2cid=168288402 }}</ref>
A British campaign called "Love Food, Hate Waste" has raised awareness about preventative measures to address food waste for consumers. Through advertisements, information on food storage and preparation and in-store education, the UK observed a 21% decrease in avoidable household food waste over the course of 5 years.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Quested|first=Tom|date=November 2009|title=Household Food and Drink Waste in the UK|url=http://www.wrap.org.uk/sites/files/wrap/Household_food_and_drink_waste_in_the_UK_-_report.pdf|journal=WRAP|access-date=2017-11-30|archive-date=2018-10-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181024203134/http://www.wrap.org.uk/sites/files/wrap/Household_food_and_drink_waste_in_the_UK_-_report.pdf}}</ref>
Another potential solution is for "smart packaging" which would indicate when food is spoiled more precisely than expiration dates currently do, for example with temperature-sensitive ink,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.packworld.com/applications/food/food-spoilage-indicator|title=Food spoilage indicator – Packaging World|access-date=2016-03-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160711023958/http://www.packworld.com/applications/food/food-spoilage-indicator|archive-date=2016-07-11}}</ref> plastic that changes color when exposed to oxygen,<ref name="foodsecurity">{{cite web|url=http://www.foodsecurity.ac.uk/research/impact/reduce-food-waste.html|publisher=foodsecurity.ac.uk|title=The smart way to reduce food waste – Global Food Security|access-date=2017-01-03|archive-date=2016-12-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161215095213/http://www.foodsecurity.ac.uk/research/impact/reduce-food-waste.html|url-status=live}}</ref> or gels that change color with time.<ref>{{cite AV media|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/smart-tags-change-color-when-food-gets-spoiled/|title=Smart tags change color when food goes bad|publisher=CBC News|date=March 17, 2014|author=Ryan Jaslow|access-date=2016-03-20 |archive-date=2016-03-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160318073552/http://www.cbsnews.com/news/smart-tags-change-color-when-food-gets-spoiled/|url-status=live}}</ref>
An initiative in Curitiba, Brazil, called Cambio Verde allows farmers to provide surplus produce (produce they would otherwise discard due to too low prices) to people that bring glass and metal to recycling facilities (to encourage further waste reduction).<ref>[http://member.clintonglobalinitiative.org/Page.aspx?pid=3633 Cambio verde project in Curitiba, Brazil] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140308222952/http://member.clintonglobalinitiative.org/Page.aspx?pid=3633 |date=2014-03-08 }}</ref> In Europe, the Food Surplus Entrepreneurs Network (FSE Network), coordinates a network of social businesses and nonprofit initiatives with the goal to spread best practices to increase the use of surplus food and reduction of food waste.<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.eu-fusions.org/index.php/epm-2014/category/3-keynotes-day-1-october-30-2014?download=27:joris-depouillon-alice-codsi-food-surplus-entrepreneurs-network|title = Food Surplus Entrepreneur|access-date = 2015-08-09|publisher = EU Fusions|last = Depouillon|first = Joris|archive-date = 2016-01-18 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160118045936/http://www.eu-fusions.org/index.php/epm-2014/category/3-keynotes-day-1-october-30-2014?download=27:joris-depouillon-alice-codsi-food-surplus-entrepreneurs-network|url-status = live}}</ref>
An overarching consensus exists on the substantial environmental benefits of food waste reduction.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Bernstad Saraiva Schott |first1=Anna |last2=Wenzel |first2=Henrik |last3=la Cour Jansen |first3=Jes |date=April 2016 |title=Identification of decisive factors for greenhouse gas emissions in comparative life cycle assessments of food waste management – an analytical review |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0959652616001281 |journal=Journal of Cleaner Production |language=en |volume=119 |pages=13–24 |doi=10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.01.079|bibcode=2016JCPro.119...13B |url-access=subscription }}</ref> However, rebound effects may cause substitutive consumption as a result of economic savings made from food waste prevention, potentially offsetting more than half of the avoided emissions (depending on the type of food and price elasticities involved).<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Salemdeeb |first1=Ramy|last2=Font Vivanco|first2=David|last3=Al-Tabbaa|first3=Abir|last4=zu Ermgassen|first4=Erasmus K. H. J.|date=2017-01-01|title=A holistic approach to the environmental evaluation of food waste prevention |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0956053X16305463|journal=Waste Management|volume=59|pages=442–450|doi=10.1016/j.wasman.2016.09.042|pmid=27712945|bibcode=2017WaMan..59..442S |issn=0956-053X}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Hegwood |first1=Margaret|last2= Burgess|first2=Matthew G.|last3=Costigliolo|first3=Erin M.|last4=Smith|first4=Pete|last5=Bajželj|first5=Bojana|last6=Saunders|first6=Harry|last7=Davis|first7=Steven J.| date=2023-07-20|title= Rebound effects could offset more than half of avoided food loss and waste |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s43016-023-00792-z|journal=Nature Food|volume=4|issue=7 |pages=585–595|doi=10.1038/s43016-023-00792-z|pmid=37474803|s2cid=259995095 |hdl=2164/21858|hdl-access=free|url-access=subscription}}</ref>
=== Food Cultures === In many cultures globally, food preservation techniques have been practiced since the beginning of time in order to diminish the amount of food being wasted to maximize survival. Nowadays, the overproduction of food has led to massive amounts of food waste each year. It is crucial to acknowledge these cultures that have many food preservation techniques, which can reduce overall food waste in households.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Asogwa-I. S.-Okoye-J. I.-Oni, K |date=2017 |title=Promotion of indigenous food preservation and processing knowledge and the challenge of food security in Africa. |journal=Journal of Food Security |volume=5 |issue=3 |pages=75–87}}</ref>
In Africa, food losses are a major issue, which is mainly due to poor food preservation practices. For example, the sub-Saharan Africa results in more than a 40% of food loss during post-harvest and processing levels. The Journal of Food Security explores an important way to increase food security is to recognize, promote, and utilize African indigenous knowledge, skillset, and practices that involve food processing, preservation and storage. In many parts of Africa, a majority of the agriculture produced is processed and preserved using indigenous knowledge and practices. Some of these indigenous food processing techniques in some parts of Nigeria include sun drying, pounding with locally made mortar, roasting and frying food, grinding with stone, early harvest with hand, use of sacks, burying in moistened soil, mixture of red pepper, wood ash application and placing under fire.<ref name=":1" />
The most popular techniques for indigenous methods are sun drying and fermentation. For example, fermentation of food produces acids that prevent the growth of organisms, which then leads to no spoilage as a result. This technique has been used for generations to preserve food for consumption for future use, and minimize food security. It is a traditional way of preserving vegetable surpluses, where cassava and sweet potatoes are the most commonly fermented vegetables in Africa.<ref name=":1" /> In Sudan, meat from sheep, goats, cow, and camel are cut in long pieces, salted and garnished with coriander powder, which is then dried for around a week. The drying processed gives the product called "shermout".<ref name=":1" />
Italy also possesses many cultural practices that have been passed from generations in order to prevent food waste. Drying, fermentation, alcoholic fermentation, addition of salt are also common preservation techniques for Italians. For example, fruits are not only eaten fresh, but they are also dried in order to be preserved for out of season consumption, or as food ingredients.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=D'Antuono |first=L Filippo |date=2013 |title=Traditional foods and food systems: a revision of concepts emerging from qualitative surveys on-site in the Black Sea area and Italy |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/jsfa.6354 |journal=Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture |language=en |volume=93 |issue=14 |pages=3443–3454 |doi=10.1002/jsfa.6354 |pmid=23963881 |bibcode=2013JSFA...93.3443D |issn=1097-0010|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Another example includes how every year Italians gather within their families to make tomato sauce. This is practiced by heating tomato sauce for a few hours, and placing them in airtight containers. This ensures sauce that can be used throughout colder seasons, and minimizes waste from the fresh tomatoes leading into the colder weather.
=== Food education and awareness === Education and awareness for food waste is an also easy and effective measure to minimize food loss in households. A food waste reduction study at primary schools shows the change in behaviour from pre-intervention of educational awareness of food waste to afterwards. One of the participants had mentioned how she threw away her snacks when the ration got too big for her. Although, after the intervention, all the participants had mentioned that they either ate the full snack, or kept leftovers to take at home. Researchers found that educational activities increased students' awareness of portion sizes, leftover management, and the overall environmental impact of food waste. The intervention included classroom sessions, individual activities, small group activities and class group activities to help children recognize the value of food and understand the consequences of wasting it. The authors of the study concluded that educational awareness are among the most effective strategies for reducing food waste in educational institutions <ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Antón-Peset |first1=Adriana |last2=Fernandez-Zamudio |first2=Maria-Angeles |last3=Pina |first3=Tatiana |date=2021-01-10 |title=Promoting Food Waste Reduction at Primary Schools. A Case Study |journal=Sustainability |language=en |volume=13 |issue=2 |page=600 |doi=10.3390/su13020600 |bibcode=2021Sust...13..600A |doi-access=free |issn=2071-1050|hdl=10550/78897 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>.
==Collection== alt=Bins of food waste locked in a cage|thumb|Bins of food waste in ReFood bins locked in a cage to prevent dumpster diving In areas where the waste collection is a public function, food waste is usually managed by the same governmental organization as other waste collection. Most food waste is combined with general waste at the source. Separate collections, also known as source-separated organics, have the advantage that food waste can be disposed of in ways not applicable to other wastes. In the United States, companies find higher and better uses for large commercial generators of food and beverage waste.
From the end of the 19th century through the middle of the 20th century, many municipalities collected food waste (called "garbage" as opposed to "trash") separately. This was typically disinfected by steaming and fed to pigs, either on private farms or in municipal piggeries.<ref>"Most of the smaller cities in this country dispose of a part or all their garbage by feeding to swine, but ... only four maintain municipal piggeries." Capes and Carpenter, 1918, p. 169</ref>
Separate curbside collection of food wastes is now being revived in some areas. To keep collection costs down and raise the rate of food waste segregation, some local authorities, especially in Europe, have introduced "alternate weekly collections" of biodegradable waste (including, e.g., garden waste), which enable a wider range of recyclable materials to be collected at reasonable cost, and improve their collection rates. However, they result in a two-week wait before the waste will be collected. The criticism is that particularly during hot weather, food waste rots and stinks, and attracts vermin. Waste container design is therefore essential to making such operations feasible. Curbside collection of food waste is also done in the U.S., some ways by combining food scraps and yard waste together. Several states in the U.S. have introduced a yard waste ban, not accepting leaves, brush, trimmings, etc. in landfills. Collection of food scraps and yard waste combined is then recycled and composted for reuse.
==Disposal== As alternatives to landfill, food waste can be composted to produce soil and fertilizer, fed to animals or insects, or used to produce energy or fuel. Some wasted fruit parts can also be biorefined to extract useful substances for the industry (i.e. succinic acid from orange peels, lycopene from tomato peels).
===Landfills and greenhouse gases=== {{Main|landfill gas}}
Dumping food waste in a landfill causes odour as it decomposes, attracts flies and vermin, and has the potential to add biological oxygen demand (BOD) to the leachate. The European Union Landfill Directive and Waste Regulations, like regulations in other countries,{{which|date=July 2014}} enjoin diverting organic wastes away from landfill disposal for these reasons. Starting in 2015, organic waste from New York City restaurants will be banned from landfills.<ref>{{cite news|title=Turning Food Waste Into Fuel Takes Gumption And Trillions Of Bacteria|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=287310897|agency=NPR|author=Joel Rose|date=2014-03-11|access-date=2018-04-05 |archive-date=2018-10-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181004185628/https://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=287310897|url-status=live}}</ref>
In countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom, food scraps constitute around 19% of the waste buried in landfills, where it biodegrades very easily and produces methane, a powerful greenhouse gas.<ref name="From Farm to Fridge to Garbage Can">[http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/01/from-farm-to-fridge-to-garbage-can/?ref=science From Farm to Fridge to Garbage Can] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101108034600/http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/01/from-farm-to-fridge-to-garbage-can/?ref=science |date=2010-11-08 }}. // The New York Times, 1.11.2010</ref>
Methane, or CH<sub>4</sub>, is the second most prevalent greenhouse gas that is released into the air, also produced by landfills in the U.S. Although methane spends less time in the atmosphere (12 years) than CO<sub>2</sub>, it is more efficient at trapping radiation. It is 25 times greater to impact climate change than CO<sub>2</sub> in a 100-year period. Humans accounts over 60% of methane emissions globally.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.usda.gov/oce/foodwaste/faqs.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160522115120/http://www.usda.gov/oce/foodwaste/faqs.htm |archive-date=2016-05-22 |title=Frequently Asked Questions |website=United States Department of Agriculture |access-date=2016-04-28}}</ref>
===Fodder and insect feed<span class="anchor" id="Food scraps"></span><span class="anchor" id="Slop"></span><span class="anchor" id="Animal feed"></span>=== Large quantities of fish, meat, dairy and grain are discarded at a global scale annually, when they can be used for things other than human consumption. The feeding of '''food scraps''' or '''slop''' to domesticated animals such as pigs or chickens is, historically, the most common way of dealing with household food waste. The animals turn roughly two thirds of their ingested food into gas or fecal waste, while the last third is digested and repurposed as meat or dairy products. There are also different ways of growing produce and feeding livestock that could ultimately reduce waste.
Bread and other cereal products discarded from the human food chain could be used to feed chickens. Chickens have traditionally been given mixtures of waste grains and milling by-products in a mixture called chicken scratch. As well, giving table scraps to backyard chickens is a large part of that movement's claim to sustainability, though not all backyard chicken growers recommend it.<ref>{{cite web |author=Chicken Feed: How to Feed Chickens |url=http://keeping-chickens.me.uk/getting-started/chicken-feed |title=Feeding Chickens: What to feed chickens to keep them healthy | Keeping Chickens: A Beginners Guide |date=19 November 2010 |publisher=Keeping Chickens |access-date=2012-10-21 |archive-date=2012-10-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121016051044/http://keeping-chickens.me.uk/getting-started/chicken-feed |url-status=live }}</ref> Ruminants and pigs have also been fed bakery waste for a long time.<ref>Heuzé V., Thiollet H., Tran G., Boudon A., Bastianelli D., Lebas F., 2018. Bakery waste. Feedipedia, a programme by INRA, CIRAD, AFZ and FAO. https://www.feedipedia.org/node/70 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180202071649/https://www.feedipedia.org/node/70 |date=2018-02-02 }} Last updated on February 1, 2018, 15:46</ref>
Certain food waste (such as flesh) can also be used as feed in maggot farming.<ref>{{Cite magazine |url=https://www.wired.co.uk/article/food-of-larvae |title=AgriProtein using food and abattoir waste to farm maggots |magazine=Wired UK |access-date=2017-08-28 |archive-date=2017-08-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170807022251/http://www.wired.co.uk/article/food-of-larvae |url-status=live }}</ref> The maggots can then be fed to other animals. In China, some food waste is being processed by feeding it to cockroaches.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://futurism.com/the-byte/cockroaches-food-waste-china|title=Cockroaches are helping a Chinese city process its food waste|website=Futurism|date=December 11, 2018 |access-date=2018-12-14|archive-date=2018-12-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181216031103/https://futurism.com/the-byte/cockroaches-food-waste-china|url-status=live}}</ref>
===Composting=== {{Main|Compost}}
[[File:Not avoidable food waste.jpg|thumb|Inevitable waste: peels of potato, onion, lemon, tangerine, banana, kiwi, egg shell]] Food waste can be biodegraded by composting, and reused to fertilize soil. Composting is the aerobic process completed by microorganisms in which the bacteria break down the food waste into simpler organic materials that can then be used in soil.<ref>{{cite journal |first1=Ken |last1=Roy |date=October 2011 |title=Trash talk: How to compost safely |journal=Science Scope |volume=35 |issue=2 |pages=82–3 |jstor=43183137 }}</ref> By redistributing nutrients and high microbial populations, compost reduces water runoff and soil erosion by enhancing rainfall penetration, which has been shown to reduce the loss of sediment, nutrients, and pesticide losses to streams by 75–95%.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Recycling|url = http://www.usda.gov/oce/foodwaste/resources/recycle.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208165811/http://www.usda.gov/oce/foodwaste/resources/recycle.htm |archive-date=2015-12-08 |website=United States Department of Agriculture |access-date = 2015-12-03}}</ref>
Composting food waste leads to a decrease in the quantity of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere. In landfills, organic food waste decomposes anaerobically, producing methane gas that is emitted into the atmosphere. When this biodegradable waste is composted, it decomposes aerobically and does not produce methane, but instead produces organic compost that can then be utilized in agriculture.<ref name="Meadows-2009">{{cite journal|last1=Meadows|first1=Robin|date=August 2009|title=Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment|journal=Compulsory Composting|volume=7|issue=6|page=292|jstor=25595163}}</ref> Recently, the city of New York has begun to require that restaurants and food-producing companies begin to compost their leftover food.<ref>{{Cite web|date=15 February 2018|title=NY Will Require More Restaurants to Put Waste to Good Use|url=http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/NY-Require-Restaurants|access-date=20 February 2018|website=NBC New York|archive-date=2023-03-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230302035345/https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/ny-require-restaurants-grocery-stores-food-waste-to-good-use/1814084/|url-status=live}}</ref> Another instance of composting progress is a Wisconsin-based company called WasteCap, who is dedicated towards aiding local communities create composting plans.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Bloom|first=Jonathan|title=American Wasteland: How America Throws Away Nearly Half of Its Food (and What We Can Do about It)|publisher=1st Da Capo Press|year=2010|location=Cambridge, MA|page=140}}</ref>
Municipal Food Waste (MFW) can be composted to create this product of organic fertilizer, and many municipalities choose to do this citing environmental protection and economic efficiency as reasoning. Transporting and dumping waste in landfills requires both money and room in the landfills that have very limited available space.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1016/j.agee.2007.07.004 |title=A review of the use of composted municipal solid waste in agriculture |journal=Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment |volume=123 |issue=1–3 |pages=1–14 |year=2008 |last1=Hargreaves |first1=J |last2=Adl |first2=M |last3=Warman |first3=P |bibcode=2008AgEE..123....1H }}</ref> One municipality who chose to regulate MFW is San Francisco, who requires citizens to separate compost from trash on their own, instituting fines for non-compliance at $100 for individual homes and $500 for businesses. The city's economic reasoning for this controversial mandate is supported by their estimate that one business can save up to $30,000 annually on garbage disposal costs with the implementation of the required composting.<ref name="Meadows-2009" />
Europe has shown significant efforts in composting, with a total of approximately 2000 composting plants. For example, Italy has 240 full operating plants implemented.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Van Fan |first1=Yee |last2=Lee |first2=Chew Tin |last3=Klemeš |first3=Jiří Jaromír |last4=Bong |first4=Cassendra Phun Chien |last5=Ho |first5=Wai Shin |date=2016-12-01 |title=Economic assessment system towards sustainable composting quality in the developing countries |journal=Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy |language=en |volume=18 |issue=8 |pages=2479–2491 |doi=10.1007/s10098-016-1209-9 |bibcode=2016CTEP...18.2479V |issn=1618-9558}}</ref> In 2015, Italian municipalities collected approximately 6.1 million tonnes of food and garden waste, which totals for 100 kg/inhabitant/year. Italy is one of the countries leading in composting in Europe. Around 35 million of Italian residents are involved in the collection of biowaste.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Bruni |first1=Cecilia |last2=Akyol |first2=Çağrı |last3=Cipolletta |first3=Giulia |last4=Eusebi |first4=Anna Laura |last5=Caniani |first5=Donatella |last6=Masi |first6=Salvatore |last7=Colón |first7=Joan |last8=Fatone |first8=Francesco |date=2020-04-19 |title=Decentralized Community Composting: Past, Present and Future Aspects of Italy |journal=Sustainability |language=en |volume=12 |issue=8 |page=3319 |doi=10.3390/su12083319 |bibcode=2020Sust...12.3319B |doi-access=free |issn=2071-1050}}</ref>
==== Home composting ==== Composting is an economical and environmentally conscious step many homeowners could take to reduce their impact on landfill waste. Instead of food scraps and spoiled food taking up space in trashcans or stinking up the kitchen before the bag is full, it could be put outside and broken down by worms and added to garden beds.
There also exists an opportunity for increased home composting via social contagion, where people in a network can learn new behaviors such as home composting, and the new behavior can spread spontaneously through the group. If enough people are influenced, the community can reach a tipping point, in which a majority of people transition to a new habit; a 2018 study published in Nature claims that with only 25 per cent of a population, a minority perspective was able to overturn the majority.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Centola |first1=Damon |last2=Becker |first2=Joshua |last3=Brackbill |first3=Devon |title=Experimental evidence for tipping points in social convention |journal=Science |date=8 Jun 2018 |volume=360 |issue=6393 |pages=1116–1119 |doi=10.1126/science.aas8827 |pmid=29880688 |bibcode=2018Sci...360.1116C |url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aas8827 |access-date=17 February 2024|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
===Anaerobic digestion=== {{Main|anaerobic digestion}}
Anaerobic digestion produces both useful gaseous products and a solid fibrous "compostable" material. Anaerobic digestion plants can provide energy from waste by burning the methane created from food and other organic wastes to generate electricity, defraying the plants' costs and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The United States Environmental Protection Agency states that the use of anaerobic composting allows for large amounts of food waste to avoid the landfills. Instead of producing these greenhouse gasses into the environment from being in a landfill, the gasses can alternatively be harnessed in these facilities for reuse.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Benefits of Anaerobic Digestion of Food Waste At Wastewater Treatment Facilities |publisher=U.S. Environmental Protection Agency |date=15 April 2013 |url=https://www.epa.gov/anaerobic-digestion/benefits-anaerobic-digestion-food-waste-wastewater-treatment-facilities |access-date=2017-11-30 |archive-date=2017-12-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201033203/https://www.epa.gov/anaerobic-digestion/benefits-anaerobic-digestion-food-waste-wastewater-treatment-facilities }}</ref>
Since this process of composting produces high volumes of biogas, there are potential safety issues such as explosion and poisoning.<ref name="JCHAS">{{cite journal|last1=Hedlund|first1=FH|last2=Madsen|first2=M|title=Incomplete understanding of biogas chemical hazards – Serious gas poisoning accident while unloading food waste at biogas plant|journal=Journal of Chemical Health & Safety|year=2018|volume=25|issue=6|pages=13–21|doi=10.1016/j.jchas.2018.05.004|s2cid=67849856|url=https://backend.orbit.dtu.dk/ws/files/149067495/biogas_poisioning_accident_preprint.pdf|access-date=2021-06-19 |archive-date=2021-06-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210625110048/https://backend.orbit.dtu.dk/ws/files/149067495/biogas_poisioning_accident_preprint.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> These interactions require proper maintenance and personal protective equipment is utilized.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://articles.extension.org/pages/30311/anaerobic-digesters-and-biogas-safety |title=Anaerobic Digesters and Biogas Safety |date=2012-04-02 |website=eXtension |access-date=2017-11-30 |archive-date=2018-11-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181116105331/https://articles.extension.org/pages/30311/anaerobic-digesters-and-biogas-safety}}</ref> Certain U.S. states, such as Oregon, have implemented the requirement for permits on such facilities, based on the potential danger to the population and surrounding environment.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.oregon.gov/deq/mm/swpermits/Pages/Composting-Regulations.aspx|title=State of Oregon: Solid Waste Disposal Site Permits - Regulating Composting Facilities and Anaerobic Digesters|website=oregon.gov|access-date=2017-11-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201030517/http://www.oregon.gov/deq/mm/swpermits/Pages/Composting-Regulations.aspx|archive-date=2017-12-01}}</ref>
Food waste coming through the sanitary sewers from garbage disposal units is treated along with other sewage and contributes to sludge.
===Commercial liquid food waste=== {{See also|Vegetable oil recycling}} Commercially, food waste in the form of wastewater coming from commercial kitchens' sinks, dishwashers and floor drains is collected in holding tanks called grease interceptors to minimize flow to the sewer system. This often foul-smelling waste contains both organic and inorganic waste (chemical cleaners, etc.) and may also contain hazardous hydrogen sulfide gases. It is referred to as fats, oils, and grease (FOG) waste or more commonly "brown grease" (versus "yellow grease", which is fryer oil that is easily collected and processed into biodiesel) and is an overwhelming problem, especially in the US, for the aging sewer systems. Per the US EPA, sanitary sewer overflows also occur due to the improper discharge of FOGs to the collection system.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2008-06-19 |title=Shelton, Conn. Fined $142K for Illegal Sewage Discharges to Housatonic River |url=https://www.epa.gov/archive/epapages/newsroom_archive/newsreleases/577455f3f73c8eeb8525746d005fbb57.html |access-date=2024-07-09 |website=United States Environmental Protection Agency}}</ref> Overflows discharge {{convert|3|–|10|e9USgal|e6m3|abbr=off|sp=us}} of untreated wastewater annually into local waterways, and up to 5,500 illnesses annually are due to exposure to contamination from sanitary sewer overflows into recreational waters.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://nepis.epa.gov/Exe/ZyPURL.cgi?Dockey=P100EQ6Q.txt |title=Aging Water Infrastructure Research: Addressing the Challenge Through Science and Innovation |date=July 2011 |publisher=United States Environmental Protection Agency |language=en |oclc=788431880}}</ref>
==See also== {{Portal|Food}}
*Anaerobic digestion *Gleaning *List of waste types *Post-harvest losses (grains) *Post-harvest losses (vegetables) *Source Separated Organics *Waste & Resources Action Programme *Waste management
== Sources == {{Free-content attribution | title = The State of Food and Agriculture 2019. Moving forward on food loss and waste reduction, In brief | author = FAO | publisher = FAO | page numbers = 24 | source = | documentURL =http://www.fao.org/documents/card/en/c/ca6122en | license statement URL = https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_State_of_Food_and_Agriculture_2019._Moving_forward_on_food_loss_and_waste_reduction,_In_brief.pdf | license = CC BY-SA 3.0 }}
{{Free-content attribution | title = The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2024 | publisher = FAO | documentURL = https://openknowledge.fao.org/items/06690fd0-d133-424c-9673-1849e414543d | license statement URL = https://openknowledge.fao.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/f985caed-cc7a-457e-8107-7ce16c6ef209/content | license = CC BY 4.0 }}
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
==Further reading== *{{cite journal |doi=10.1086/684528 |title=Household Food Waste Behavior: Avenues for Future Research |journal=Journal of the Association for Consumer Research |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=41–51 |year=2016 |last1=Porpino |first1=Gustavo |s2cid=56005307 |url=https://www.alice.cnptia.embrapa.br/alice/handle/doc/1091606 }} *{{cite book |author=Baylen J. Linnekin |title=Biting the Hands that Feed Us: How Fewer, Smarter Laws Would Make Our Food System More Sustainable |year=2016 |publisher=Island Press |isbn=978-1-61091-675-2}} *{{cite book |editor1-last=Reynolds |editor1-first=Christian |editor2-last=Soma |editor2-first=Tammara |editor3-last=Spring |editor3-first=Charlotte |editor4-last=Lazell |editor4-first=Jordon |title=Routledge Handbook of Food Waste |date=2020 |publisher=Routledge |location=London |isbn=978-0-429-46279-5 |edition=1st |language=en |doi=10.4324/9780429462795}} *{{cite book |editor1-last=Galanakis |editor1-first=Charis M. |title=Saving Food: Production, Supply Chain, Food Waste and Food Consumption |date=2019 |publisher=Academic Press |isbn=978-0-12-815709-1 |edition=1st}} *{{cite book |last1=Blakeney |first1=Michael |title=Food Loss and Food Waste |date=2019 |publisher=Edward Elgar Publishing |isbn=978-1-78897-538-4 |language=en}}
==External links== {{Commons category|Food waste}} * [https://www.nrdc.org/issues/food-waste NRDC page on food waste] (advocacy site with suggestions) *[https://drawdown.org/solutions/reduced-food-waste Reduced Food Waste - Solution Summary] Project Drawdown, 2020. * [https://www.leket.org/en/food-waste-and-rescue-report/ Food Waste and Rescue Report in Israel] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20230330141948/https://www.recifit.com/2019/10/the-low-down-food-waste.html low down food waste] *[https://regeneration.org/nexus/wasting-nothing Wasting Nothing], Project Regeneration, 2021.
{{Waste}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Food Waste}} Category:Food waste Category:Waste Waste