Food Waste: The Hidden Cost of the Food We Throw Out I ClimateScience #9

worldwide 30 percent of food is lost or wasted this averages out to 614 kilocalories per person every single day about the same as 10 medium eggs or 21 large carrots but wait what does this have to do with climate change [Music] when food is lost or wasted all of the resources that went into making it are wasted too globally this accounts for 1.4 billion hectares of wasted land and 250 kilometers cubed of wasted water every year that's a land area larger than canada and india put together and enough water to fill up a hundred million olympic sized swimming pools what's more food loss and waste are responsible for eight to ten percent of global greenhouse gas emissions these emissions not only come from the production and transportation of the wasted food but they also come directly from the rotting food itself when it is broken down by microorganisms despite all this waste in 2019 nearly 1 in 10 people around the world were exposed to severe food insecurity reducing food loss and waste by just 50 percent would provide enough food to feed all of these people and then some although food losses occur at all stages of the food supply chain their main cause varies between different countries in wealthier countries more than 40 percent of food loss and waste occur at the retail and consumer stage largely due to consumer behavior and food supply exceeding demand food losses in lower income countries mostly occur earlier in the supply chain due to poor harvesting techniques insufficient storage and cooling facilities and a lack of infrastructure for food transport and marketing so what can we do to reduce all of this food loss and waste well let's begin at the start of the supply chain we need to reduce food losses on the farm itself sub-optimal conditions such as not enough water and too much heat significantly reduce the growth potential of food crops and 20 to 40 percent of crops globally are lost to insect pests weeds and diseases global soil quality is also degrading making it harder for plants to access the nutrients they need to grow and forcing farmers to rely on artificial fertilizers by improving soil quality and exploiting natural interactions between plants animals and their environment farmers can improve crop yields whilst reducing waste and resource use providing farmers with effective harvesting technologies will also be important as food is often lost to damage or spillage during the harvesting process one of the biggest causes of food loss in lower income countries is storage if food is left somewhere that is too hot or too damp it can easily spoil a rot improving storage facilities and transport infrastructure can therefore significantly reduce losses if lower income countries have the same access to refrigeration as richer nations food losses would be reduced by 25 to solve this problem we need to develop low-cost off-grid solutions for food preservation such as mobile solar powered storage food processing and more durable packaging can also prevent food spoilage during storage transport and at the consumer stage although we would need to consider the sustainability of the packaging that is used even so innovation can only get us so far retailer and consumer behaviors will also need to change for example supermarkets set very high standards for what food should look like meaning that imperfect food is often discarded even if it's perfectly edible embracing these ugly foods at both the retail and consumer level will significantly reduce how much gets thrown away restaurants retailers and caterers can also reduce their waste by selling food in more appropriate portions and by donating uneaten goods to those who are unable to afford them but what can we do as individuals well we can start by planning ahead and only buying what we need we can cook with leftovers and use our freezers to keep food fresh for longer as well as encouraging less wasteful practices we also need to be more aware of how to store food properly and how to tell if food is still safe beyond its expiration date as the world gets richer consumer level food waste is likely to become more and more of a problem therefore it is vital that people are aware of the impacts of food waste and what they can do to make a difference if you like this video be sure to subscribe and hit the notification bell so you can be notified as soon as our next video comes out till next time

Channel: ClimateScience - Solve Climate Change

Views: 231,867

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Id: ishA6kry8nc

Length: 4min 53sec (293 seconds)

Published: Sat Aug 07 2021