40% of the world’s food is wasted | How the pandemic is influencing the distribution chain

According to a report by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the supermarket chain Tesco, 40% of products grown to feed the world’s population are not eaten.

According to the study, this waste contributes to 10% of greenhouse gases causes of climate change, which is equivalent to nearly double the annual emissions produced by all cars on the road in the United States and Europe.

Every year, the study points out, they are wasted 2.5 billion tonnes of food, of which 900 million are lost in retail establishments or in homes and 1.2 billion in the countryside, on farms.

This last figure, which had not been counted to date, represents 15.3% of world production, so foodstuffs worth $ 370 billion would only be lost at this stage of production.

“The problem is probably bigger than we imagined”admitted Pete Pearson, head of WWF’s Global Food Loss and Waste Initiative.

Through a statement, the agency said that “the report offers a more complete picture” of the problems in the world since it “analyzes the losses linked to crops, data which does not appear, for example, in the Index of FAO, which takes into account postharvest and accumulated losses along supply chains ”.

To produce this unaccounted quantity of food, according to the study by WWF and the supermarket chain Tesco, 440 million hectares of agricultural land and 760,000 cubic hectometers of water are used. This equates to an area larger than the Indian subcontinent and similar water volume to 304 million Olympic swimming pools.

Likewise, the report states that food waste generates 10% of greenhouse gases – not 8%, as previously believed – a percentage that would be equivalent to nearly double the annual emissions produced by all cars circulating in the states. United and Europe.

The role of states

According to the report, contrary to what one might think, losses per capita on farms are generally higher in industrialized regions: “Despite greater mechanization of farms and having only 37% of the population global, high- and middle-income countries in Europe, North America and industrialized Asia contribute 58% of global agricultural waste”.

In addition, despite the fact that agriculture is where the highest numbers of food waste are concentrated, public policies focus more on the last supply chain, sales and consumption. Therefore, the report considers that in order to achieve a significant reduction in waste, governments and markets must add specific measures for farmers.

The pandemic and hunger

According to Pearson, the pandemic has worsened the waste trend by causing “massive disruption of supply chains, forcing contract cancellations, restaurant closures and leaving large amounts of perishable goods wasted or left on farms that were later unnecessary. “

This problem is even greater when you take into account that there are 800 million hungry people in the world, said Celsa Peiteado, responsible for the sustainable food program at WWF Spain. “The data is alarming: enough food is wasted to feed the whole world until 2050. We could feed all the hungry people on the planet more than seven times, ”the expert said.

meat consumption

Pearson said that Although the report focuses on agricultural production rather than livestock, Various global studies have shown that it is necessary to reduce the consumption of meat, both for the sake of human health and for the environment.

However, the WWF chief admitted that in some places this is not possible. He also stressed that any reduction in meat consumption should not come at the expense of human health.

“Coming up with a single consumption model or production system would fail to appreciate the complexity of food systems and the culture, history and science behind them,” said Pearson, who noted that It is important that societies that “decide to continue consuming food that comes from animals” ensure “that it comes from sustainable production systems.