FEED PEOPLE, NOT LANDFILLS

…. but First, Don’t Buy and Stock Up More than is Needed

Today, far from celebrating food, many of us have adopted wasteful habits. One-fifth of food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted globally. This amounts to 1 billion meals a day. Globally, about 79 kg of food is wasted per person annually.

The top priority for addressing wasted food is source reduction: businesses and individuals should avoid purchasing food that won’t be eaten. Providing the food to those in need is a reasonable second choice. Composting wasted food can be beneficial for soils but still means a great deal of wasted resources.

Preventing food from going to waste starts with not buying and stocking up more than is needed. Grocery store managers, for example, can examine their records to look for ways to avoid ordering more food than they can sell. Homes and restaurants can prepare smaller batches of food so leftovers don’t spoil before they can be eaten, reduce portion sizes to reduce plate waste, and find creative ways to use unwanted food (e.g., using vegetable trimmings in soup stock).

When food waste can’t be prevented at the source, excess food – if it is safe to eat – can be donated or resold to people who want it. As the US Environmental Protection Agency says, “Feed people, not landfills.”

As a last resort to keep food out of landfills and incinerators, food that is unsuitable for eating can be used for animal feed or industrial uses, or composted. Composting is the process of decomposing food scraps, crop residues, animal manure, and other forms of organic matter. The finished product is a dark, spongy material that is added to soil to increase fertility, helping farmers grow more food. Homes, stores, and restaurants can compost their own organic matter.

Source: Food System Primer, Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future; data from UN