Imagine a world where the food we throw away could feed millions, where every meal wasted deepens both hunger and environmental crises. Discarded food isn’t just scraps, it’s a missed opportunity to nourish people and protect our planet. Why do we waste so much food, and what can we do to change this?
Food waste or food loss often refers to food not ultimately consumed by humans (food that has been served but not eaten).
The causes of food waste or loss are numerous and occur throughout the food system, during production, processing, distribution, retail and food service sales, and consumption. Overall, about one-third of the world’s food is thrown away.
A similar amount is lost on top of that by feeding human-edible food to farm animals (the net effect wastes an estimated 1144
kcal/person/day); kcal/person/day).
Reducing food losses and waste is essential in a world where the number of people affected by hunger has been slowly on the rise since 2014, and tons and tons of edible food are lost and/or wasted every day.
Some ways to decrease food lost:
- Take an inventory (take stock of your pantry, refrigerator and freezer before going to the store to prevent overbuying) ;
- Create a meal plan ;
- Store food appropriately ;
- Compost ;
- Use leftovers creatively.
From the students of SUGS “Georgi Dimitrov” – Skopje, North Macedonia
