Food waste increases greenhouse gases

Food waste increases greenhouse gases

16/09/2013

According to a UN report, one third of all food worldwide is already wasted in production or at the end consumer. Not only is this an economic problem, it also has a huge impact on the production of greenhouse gases.

According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, three billion tons of environmentally harmful gases are emitted by food waste. This value is surpassed only by the US and China, which cause more carbon dioxide annually. 1.6 billion tonnes of food, or one-third of all food, are wasted annually. This equates to a value of 750 billion US dollars. The increased carbon dioxide production through land use has not even been included. If this were done, the values ​​would be about 25 to 40 percent higher, according to the study titled "Balance of Food Waste - Impact on Natural Resources".

Waste of drinking water
Add to this the waste of 250 cubic kilometers of water needed for production. This corresponds to about three times as much water volume as Lake Geneva. But that's not enough. Nearly 1.4 billion hectares are needed to produce the food, which equates to about one third of the world's agricultural land. Waste is being wasted in all regions of the world. At later stages of the food chain, there will be grave differences between regions and waste.

Industrial nations are the biggest spenders
According to the report, in the rich industrialized nations, almost 40 percent of the food is given to waste within trade and end consumers, compared to just 16 percent in poor countries. According to the authors of the report, among other things, the fixation on the best before date and an excessive attention to the appearance of the products are responsible for this.

„All of us - farmers and fishermen, food producers and supermarkets, local and national governments and consumers - need to make a difference in every link in the human food chain, "said FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva, starting with the" ridiculous phenomenon " Developing countries not to buy crooked vegetables. (Fr)

Also read:
UN: Most of the food worldwide is thrown away

Image: Markus Vogelbacher