– 8% of human-caused greenhouse gas emissions come from food loss and waste.
– Globally, we lose about $1 trillion per year in food that is wasted or lost.
– 28% of agricultural land is used to grow food that is never eaten.
To better understand this data, we can refer to the Food Waste Index Report 2021, prepared by the FAO and The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), together with its partner organization, WRAP. This document compiles and analyzes data on food waste produced at points of sale, restaurants, and households, considering both food and non-edible components.
This analysis is the first estimate of the food waste index established by the FAO, providing a methodology to unify quantifications in different countries. A report by Future Market reveals that the recycled food market is worth $46.7 billion and is expected to grow significantly over the next ten years.
Do you want to eat recycled food? To understand this a little more, keep in mind that it is already common for fruits and vegetables that cannot be sold as “perfect” on the fresh food shelves to be used for processing other types of food such as creams, soups, snacks, and ready meals. They are, of course, suitable and fit for this type of use. However, companies also sell these products as fresh fruits and vegetables to people whose main priority is not appearance.
Food waste is a global problem that affects the entire agri-food chain, from crop planting and harvesting practices, storage, food production and manufacturing, merchandising, and distribution to our homes, where more than 40% of food waste is produced.
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