Food waste is a global climate, food security, and economic challenge. From farms and commercial kitchens to households and landfills, roughly one-third of all food produced globally is lost or wasted, costing the global economy roughly US$1 trillion annually and driving 8 to 10 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Meanwhile, an estimated 1 in 11 people face chronic hunger and undernourishment worldwide.<\/p>\n
With this in mind, \u201cfood waste belongs at the center of the conversation on climate action,\u201d says Martin Krause, Director of the Climate Change Division at UNEP.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Krause spoke at \u201cSolving Food Waste is a Key Solution to the Climate Crisis,\u201d a Food Tank Summit at Climate Week NYC, held in partnership with the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), Food Planet Prize, NRDC, Restaurant Technologies, CookUnity, and Mill. Throughout the morning, speakers agreed that addressing food waste requires action across the food system, from agricultural production and government policy to businesses and households.<\/p>\n
Speakers emphasized the importance of preventing waste at the farm level\u2014where unharvested surplus crops, strict cosmetic standards, and economic factors can sometimes make it unprofitable or impractical to pick and sell everything that is grown.<\/p>\n
U.S. Representative Andrea Salinas (D-OR) points to the financial pressures that force farmers to waste food: \u201cA lot of our growers are leaving their crops in the fields or orchards. Some of it is it just isn\u2019t going to pencil out for them to harvest\u2026This is all food that should not be wasted,\u201d says Salinas.<\/p>\n
Yet food waste prevention at the farm level \u201cis what keeps the most carbon in the ground and keeps the most people alive,\u201d says Velek\u00e9 Brown, CEO of E-RoadMap and Velloris and Executive Director of E-RoadMap Corporation. \u201cWhen we talk about food waste, most people work at the end of the line moving surplus, but my work is upstream where the waste is quieter.\u201d<\/p>\n
U.S. Representative Melanie Stansbury (D-NM) says reducing food waste also requires examining how food is distributed and who has access to it.<\/p>\n
\u201cPart of why you have food waste is because farmers are producing agricultural products they\u2019re selling nationally and internationally, and local people who are hungry cannot get their hands on that food. We have not, as a country, made it a policy priority to address this,\u201d says Stansbury. \u201cWe cannot talk about food waste without talking about fixing the food system.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Food recovery can help connect surplus food with communities experiencing food insecurity, but speakers say that donations must meet people\u2019s needs.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven if you do all this work to donate the excess food, if it isn\u2019t intentional and what people want, it just ends up in the trash,\u201d says Matthew Jozwiak, Founder and CEO of Rethink Food.<\/p>\n
And strong partnerships are necessary to expand food recovery efforts, says Mar\u00eda Bengochea, Director of Sustainability & Standards at CookUnity.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are suffering from many climate crises\u2026we need to unlock emergency donations for people who are suffering from this. It\u2019s important to have strong partners who are really committed,\u201d says Bengochea.<\/p>\n
Especially at a time when fuel and grocery prices are at historic highs across the world, speakers say that communicating with consumers about food waste prevention must point to the financial benefits.<\/p>\n
\u201cReducing methane emissions might not land with people, but reducing their grocery bill will,\u201d says Tia Schwab, Senior Manager of U.S. Food Systems at C40 Cities<\/p>\n
And for Madeline Keating of NRDC, infrastructure and education are critical components of making any food waste production effort successful. If the compost stream is contaminated or there are not enough facilities to process it, then efforts to increase composting practices will be wasted.<\/p>\n
\u201cCities can realize the most cost savings from reducing food waste when they look at their entire waste system. But a really critical piece is education,\u201d says Keating.<\/p>\n
In commercial kitchens, this also means engaging employees at every level.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt really just comes down to the actions of the chefs and making sure everyone from hourly associates to executive chefs knows what they need to do in their specific roles,\u201d says Gwyneth Rampton, Vice President of Sustainability at Compass Group USA.<\/p>\n
And at the retail level, Jackie Suggitt, Senior Director of Waste & Circularity at Walmart, calls for faster implementation of solutions that already exist.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s not wait for the next thing to come along and fix all the problems\u2026we have enough to be moving and moving quickly,\u201d says Suggitt. \u201cI would like to see us implement at scale faster. People love pilots\u2026we need to move past that.\u201d<\/p>\n
As speakers emphasized throughout the event, reducing food waste requires coordinated action across the food system. From preventing waste on farms and connecting surplus food with communities to improving infrastructure and changing consumer behavior, existing solutions can help move the food system toward greater sustainability.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe do have the solutions; let\u2019s implement them,\u201d says Krause.<\/p>\n