Reducing Impacts of Food Loss and Waste Proceedings of a Workshop (2019) / Chapter Skim
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1 Introduction
1 Introduction
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, about one-third of food produced is lost or wasted globally.1 Beyond quantity estimates, however, less is known about the impacts on farmers, food prices, food availability, and environment of reducing food loss and waste. On October 17, 2018, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine's Science and Technology for Sustainability program organized a workshop to examine key challenges that arise in reducing food loss and waste throughout the supply chain and discussed potential ways to address these challenges.
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In 2014, given future concerns related to global food security and the increasing demand for animal protein by developing countries, the Science and Technology for Sustainability program, in collaboration with the Division on Earth and Life Studies Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources, completed a report titled Critical Role of Animal Science Research in Food Security and Sustainability. The report identifies areas of research and development, technology, and resource needs for research in the field of animal agriculture, both nationally and internationally.2 Based on positive inputs from these previous works, the Science and Technology for Sustainability program convened a committee to plan and hold a workshop focused on addressing the impacts of reducing food loss and waste on farmers, food prices, food availability, and the environment.
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In addition to the FAO's estimate that about one-third of food produced is lost or wasted globally, she noted that in the United States, food loss and waste account for approximately 31 percent at the retail and consumer levels each year -- a loss of about 133 billion pounds at a cost of $162 billion3 -- with significant impacts on food security, environmental conservation, and climate change. Yet despite the abundance of research on the scale of the issue, the impacts of reducing food loss and waste on farmers' incomes, food prices, and the environment have not been fully investigated.
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Consequently, during the workshop, some speakers explicitly provided their definitions in context of their presentations, while others did not. For instance, some made a clear distinction between food waste and food loss, with food waste indicating losses at the consumer end and food loss indicating waste during earlier stages of the food supply chain.
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• Food waste refers to the removal from the food supply chain which is fit for consumption, by choice, or which has been left to spoil or expire as a result of negligence by the actor -- predominantly, but not exclusively, the final consumer at house hold level. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2018)
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Food Loss and Waste Accounting and Reporting Standarde The Food Loss and Waste Standard does not specify precisely which set of destinations comprises "loss and waste." Rather, it gives globally consistent and applicable definitions of the possible destinations for food and/or associated inedible parts removed from the food supply chain. SOURCES: a Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
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FIGURE 1-1 How much does food contribute to most pressing environmental issues? SOURCE: Bojana Bajzelj, Presentation, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, October 17, 2018, Washington, DC.
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Reducing food loss and waste by half would decrease greenhouse gas emissions by 20 to 30 percent through reduced land conversion, reduced fertilizer use, less deforestation, and other factors. Conversely, if business as usual continues, food production's greenhouse gas emissions will continue to rise due to increasing populations and greater per-capita consumption.5 Reducing food waste is embedded in the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
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At the other extreme, and most environmentally harmful, is waste disposal in a landfill or sewer, with no energy recovery. Other options between these extremes, from the most to the least preferable options, include redistribution to other people, use as animal feed, use in anaerobic digestion or compost, and waste incineration with energy recovery.
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By mapping relationships to develop the Food Waste Reduction Roadmap for the UK, it became clear that retail has a relatively low volume of food loss and waste compared to the manufacturing, hospitality and food service, and consumer sectors in UK, but it has the most power and influence through aspects such as contracts and specifications, shelf life of products, and interactions between manufacturers and consumers. Barriers and gaps to progress include a lack of activity at the national policy level, she concluded.
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