Tackling food loss and waste from the farm to the table and beyond

Reducing food loss and waste is crucial for improving food security and nutrition, promoting the efficient use of resources, protecting the environment, and fostering a more equitable distribution of food resources globally, QU Dongyu, Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) said today.  

He made the remarks in a video message to a global virtual event to mark the fifth International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste which falls on Sunday (28 September). The event, which also included a message from Inger Andersen, the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and was organized by FAO and UNEP, highlighted the critical need for financing to help reduce food loss and waste and thus contribute to achieving climate and Sustainable Development goals. 

Currently, over 13 percent of food is lost globally in the supply chain after harvest on farms and before the retail stages. Furthermore, food waste, occurring at retail, food service and household levels stands at 19 percent, according to UNEP statistics.

Additionally, food loss and waste account for an estimated 8 to 10 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. The methane gas produced by food loss also has far greater potential to trap heat than carbon dioxide, impacting the environment.

However, “by reducing food loss and waste, countries and communities can benefit from improved food security, access to healthy diets and reduced malnutrition while decreasing their greenhouse gas footprints,” Qu noted. The OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook Report for the period 2024-2033 projects that by halving food loss and waste we can reduce global agricultural greenhouse gas emissions by 4 percent, and the number of undernourished people by 153 million by the year 2030.

To achieve this, an increase in climate investments, and the re-design and up-scale of storage systems to reduce food losses upstream in the supply chain, particularly in low-income economies, is much needed. Raising public awareness and consumer education is also critical at the household level, with the implementation at the global level, the FAO Director-General highlighted.

FAO’s work at the country level

FAO is addressing the issue of food loss and waste from the ground level and up. Innovations such as the FAO Food Loss App (FLAPP) is designed to quantify food loss in crops at the micro level and facilitate efforts to achieve net zero. This technology is already helping rice producers in the Dominican Republic to access information in real-time and identify solutions to areas of food loss.

In other countries, FAO’s technical expertise is helping farmers to reduce food losses incurred during the harvesting and before retail stages. Training initiatives on better handling, sorting and packaging practices have already resulted in a 38 percent reduction in losses for tomato farmers in the Philippines, and less than 5 percent post-harvest loss for dasheen farmers in Trinidad.

Chefs join the table

Several globally acclaimed chefs also joined today’s virtual event to talk about their contributions and responsibilities to help achieve zero food loss and waste.

They included Douglas McMaster, the founder of the first zero-waste restaurant Silo in the United Kingdom, and winner of awards such as ‘Britain’s Most Ethical Restaurant’ and ‘Britain’s Most Innovated Restaurant’ and Fatmata Binta, the first African to receive the Basque Culinary World Prize in 2022, who is supporting women farmers in their cultivation of fonio, a climate-resilient and nutritious millet, to improve food security and livelihoods and contribute to healthy diets.

Also participating were David Hertz, chef, social entrepreneur and co-founder of Brazil’s Gastromotiva cooking school, where he incorporates sustainable solutions in gastronomy and promotes social inclusion; Leyla Fathalla a prominent chef in the Middle East and an advocate on food waste who is seen as an inspiration for the young women of the region and is helping promote UNEP’s work in eliminating food loss and waste and supporting the Recipe of Change campaign, and Cristina Bowerman a Michelin-starred Italian chef who has won several awards for her advocacy work and currently serves as an Ambassador for Rise Against Hunger and Waste Watchers International Observatory.

The event also included a video clip by members of the world-famous Harlem Globetrotters where they spoke to young students on the importance of healthy diets and actions they can take to minimize food waste. The players also recently collaborated with FAO at a side event of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly, showcasing the crucial role sports and athletes can play in teaching young children healthy eating habits and the importance of reducing food loss and waste at home and at school.