introduction

Deng deng deng deng!!!

Hi guys. I've decided to touch on the topic on food wastage as an environmental issue after much thought. You know, usually when environmental issues are discussed, problems such as global warming, climate change, deforestation etc comes to mind first. However, being a glutton (heh), I somehow think about food first and.....

I decided to research and learn more about food wastage and its consequences pertaining to the environment. Other than going into our stomachs, a huge amount of it actually heads to dustbins, incinerators and finally landfills. Food can thus be one of the key components in contributing to the several environmental problems that the world is facing today.

So, here's a mini introduction on food wastage (in the US):

(https://youtu.be/EwVuz0UJl2A)

In case the lazy you just decided to skip watching the video, here are a few key points mentioned:

• We produce 27% more food per person today as compared to 15 years ago.
• Half of the food produced in the US is wasted between the farm and the fork due to inefficiency.
• How is food wasted in the US:

Clearly, food wastage is a problem that cannot be ignored, especially in more affluent countries where people have greater spending power on food. This is probably due to the abundance of food available for them, and that majority of them are able to afford what they want to consume. Hence, the impacts of food wastage (especially the environmental aspect) do not concern them as they do not feel the consequences directly.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO),

• Every year, consumers in rich countries waste almost as much food (222 million tonnes) as the entire net food production of sub-Saharan Africa (230 million tonnes) 

(https://twitter.com/foodsecurityuk/status/601741119316176896)

!!!!!

That's like crashing 493,333 Boeing 747s full of food. Poof. :(

Both the production and supply, and the consumption of food can inevitably lead to food wastage. Reasons can include excess production and consumption (where supply exceeds demand), the food passing its expiry date, and the failing of quality and aesthetics standards. Not only is the food itself being wasted, the resources/hidden costs used to produce the food are also wasted - time, land, money, water.

In this post, I have briefly explained about food wastage, and the extent of it in the world. Food wastage occurs almost everywhere, and hence solving this problem would definitely not be easy. In the upcoming posts, I will expound more on how food wastage can directly harm our environment. After all, this is an environmental blog :D

Till then! (and in the meantime, try not to waste anymore food yeah)

References:
FOOD  AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS. (n.d.) Food wastage: key facts and figures. [Online] Available from: http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/196402/icode/ [Accessed: 20/08/2015]

FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS. (2011) Global food losses and food waste. [Online] Available from: http://www.fao.org/docrep/014/mb060e/mb060e.pdf [Accessed: 20/08/2015]

UNITED NATIONS ENVIRONMENT PROGRAMME. (n.d.) Food waste facts. [Online] Available from: http://www.unep.org/wed/2013/quickfacts/ [Accessed: 20/08/2015]