After all, according to the UN, food waste adds up to a cost of $940 billion a year, a staggering figure. The other day I was reading some news on the internet about food waste worldwide, and I was wondering how many people will empathize with the statistics presented. We throw away 10bn meals worth of food in our homes every year! On this page. 20 Ways to Reduce Food Waste (And Why You Should Care) June 3, 2019 // by Shirell Bishop // Leave a Comment We’ve all bought food with the best intentions – eating the leftovers from our favorite restaurant at a later date, or incorporating a particular item into one of the many recipes we planned to try for the first time. There are many ways people can reduce food waste, including properly storing food, freezing, pickling, and using food scraps in stocks and compost. The impact of food waste. Learn more. Food waste accounts for 8-10% of man-made greenhouse gas emissions, so eliminating food waste is key to tackling the climate crisis. Our purchasing power is strong and we can use it for the advantage of reducing supermarket food waste. Food waste accounted for almost 14 percent of the total municipal solid waste stream, less than three percent of which was recovered and recycled in 2010. We understand, indeed, that hundreds of tons of wasted food are … Whatever the reason, food waste is a global problem that produces methane gases at all stages of the food chain — seeds, water, energy, land, labor — in every party of the world. Why Should We Reduce Food Waste? Adding fuel to the fire, an estimated 2-3% of annual turnover is lost to The rest, 33 million tons, was thrown away, making food waste the single largest component of municipal solid waste reaching landfills and incinerators. Future Foods: our plan to tackle waste in the food system. Supermarkets have a large role to play and a long way to go until food waste is truly tackled. Reducing food loss and waste has financial benefits for businesses as well. Just in the UK, the manufacturing and retail sector is estimated to waste 1.9 million tonnes of food a year worth £1.9 billion. Or consumers (you and me) mismanage the food we purchase by buying too much or throw food away because we don’t understand expiration dates. In the United States, over one-third of all available food goes uneaten through loss or waste. Getting Started; Food Donation Success Stories; Sources of Statistics; Feed Hungry People is the second tier of EPA’s Food Recovery Hierarchy. How We Can Help Reduce Supermarket Food Waste. But there are things we can do to help force them into the right direction. When food is tossed aside, so too are opportunities for improved food security, economic growth, and environmental prosperity. We want to help shape a global food system that is fair for everyone.