Worldwide, 30-40% of our food supply is lost or wasted every year.
F**K that.
Food waste is responsible for 6% of total global greenhouse gas emissions. Need a comparison? It is around three times the global emissions from aviation. In the context of national emissions, it would be the world’s third largest emitter and only China (21%) and the United States (13%) emits more GHGs.
Who cares?! The climate does! Project Drawdown lists “reduced food waste” as the number one solution to reversing climate change. Yes, reverse, not just halt, but reverse!
But wait, this waste also wastes other natural resources:
Land– An area larger than China is used to produce food that is never eaten.
Water– Food waste uses 25% of the total freshwater.
Oil– Food waste uses about 300 million barrels of oil annually.
Fertilizer– 28 million tons of fertilizer are used each year to produce food that is ultimately wasted. That is 19% of all fertilizers.
WTF?!!
It’s not just wasted food. It is wasted money. $1 TRILLION is wasted globally every year due to food waste. This figure might shoot up to $1.5 trillion by 2030.
It gets worse because that is just the economic loss. According to the FAO, “Overall, the total cost of food waste is estimated at $ 2.6 trillion annually, roughly equivalent to the GDP of France (FAO, 2016).”
OMFG. F**K that.
10.5% of Americans were considered food insecure in 2019. Surely that number is higher now as COVID has exacerbated hunger. How can we waste 30-40% of our food when so many don’t have enough to eat?
That sh*t sucks.
The bad news? We are all responsible. The good news? We can all be part of the solution.
Let’s f**king do it. Check out the resources below to learn more about food waste and then hit the “Help Save the Food” button to help.