Valuing Our Food: Minimizing Waste and Optimizing Resources - The Scope of the Global Food Waste...

www.responsecology.com

Valuing our Food:Minimizing Waste and Optimizing Resources

The Scope of the Global Food Waste Problem

Steven M. FinnResponsEcology, Inc.

University of Pennsylvania


Key Takeaways

• Worldwide hunger and massive global food waste: A serious disconnect exists…

• Our values are out of balance• We have lost touch with the value of our food – to

the detriment of people and planet• The current state of waste, pollution, and hunger is

unsustainable• 9Bx2050 provides a critical opportunity• A collaborative, effective, global network focusing on

shared values and urgency is needed


Global Food Waste: Scope


Food Waste in the US

• 1977: a study estimated that 20% of the food produced in the US for human consumption was lost annually – at that time 137 million tons with a value of $31 billion Source: USDA Report to Congress, 1977

• Two decades later, another study estimated US food losses at 96 billion pounds annually (or 27% of food available for human consumption) Source: Kantor et al., 1997


• A recent NRDC study noted that 40% of the food in the US is not eaten

• This translates to 20 lbs. of food per person per month and a value of $165 billion

Source: Gunders, 2012

• Conclusion: Regarding food waste in the US, we have regressed in 35 years

Food Waste in the US


Food Waste in the UK

• High rates of food waste in the UK as wellWRAP noted that:• UK households waste 6.7 million tons of food

per year (about 33% of purchases)• With proper management, more than 60% of

that food could have been eaten• Nearly 25% of all avoidable food waste was

discarded in a whole/unopened state Source: WRAP, 2008


Global Losses

• A study by SIWI noted that food losses and wastage could be as high as 50% from field to fork Source: Lundqvist,2008


Global Losses

• About 1/3 of all edible parts of food produced globally for human consumption go to waste annually

• That’s 1.3 billion tons annually

Source: Gustavvson et al., 2011


One Trillion Reasons

• In US dollars, FAO estimates food losses and food waste total about $680 billion in industrialized countries, and $310 billion in developing countries Source: FAO Save Food, 2013

• That’s nearly one trillion US dollars…

$ 1,000,000,000,000


Global Food Waste by Product

Source: FAO: Food Wastage Footprints, 2012


Global Losses

• Global food losses of this magnitude are unconscionable

• “The potential to provide 60-100% more food by simply eliminating losses, while simultaneously freeing up land, energy, and water resources for other uses, is an opportunity that should not be ignored.”

Source: Fox, Institute of Mechanical Engineers, 2013


Some Causes of Food Waste

• Extreme Weather• Pests• Regulations• Overly selective quality standards• Damage from machinery• Loss in Transport and storage• Food prep and conversion• Supply and demand variability• Damaged packaging• Over-purchasing• Confusion over sell-by dates• Plate wasteSource: Kantor et al. 1997


Where Food Waste and Losses Occur• Developing countries (post

harvest and processing stages) vs. Industrialized countries (greater impact of retail and consumer level losses)

• Europe and North America, largest per capita food loss (avg. 280-300 kg/year)

• About 36% of that loss is at the consumer level

• Comparison: In developing countries, food losses at consumer level roughly 6%

Source: Gustavvson et al., 2011


Developing countries

• Lack of infrastructure is critical• Transportation, refrigeration problems• Much material is lost in transit to market, or

rots in inadequate storage facilities

• Little waste at market; food is simply too valuable!


Industrialized countries

• Highly efficient transportation systems allow for rapid movement of food over great distances

• Consumers expert convenience, fully stocked shelves at all times and “perfect” produce

• System based on oversupply and uniformity• Vast amounts of waste at market• “Imperfect” produce culled out at farm


Excess Fruit In, Excess Fruit Out

• Excess supply and quest for perfection = waste


Chicken In, Chicken Out


Poor Infrastructure, and Apathy

• Food waste in developing nations results from a lack of infrastructure for storage and transportation

• Food waste in industrialized nations stems largely from a culture of abundance, and apathy

Abundance = Myth, Illusion

“Industrialized nations need to learn what it means to live in scarcity – because the appearance of infinite abundance is an illusion.” Tristram Stuart, Waste, 2009

Valuing Food and Resources

• How much do we value our food?

• And the resources to produce it?

• How often do we consider the weaknesses of the food system, and the waste that results?


A Move to Mainstream

• Food Waste is not yet a mainstream issue in industrialized nations

• The US spends $1 billion annually to dispose of food waste Source: www.endhunger.org 2013

• It must become part of national, and global, agendas

http://www.endhunger.org/


Global Food Waste: Significance

• Food Waste has direct and significant bearing on the two most pressing issues of our time – poverty/hunger and the environment


Significance: Global Hunger

• 870 million people (12.5% of the global population) were undernourished from 2010 to 2012 Source: FAO, WFP, and IFAD 2012

• About 98% of these individuals lived in developing countries Source: FAO, WFP, and IFAD 2012

• 2 billion individuals are now facing one or more micronutrient deficiencies Source: FAO 2013


Significance: US Hunger

The US is the most prosperous nation, yet:• Over 50 million Americans (about 1 in 6) lived in

food insecure households in 2011• About 17 million of them were children• About 5 million were seniors• Source: www.feedingamerica.org, 2013

• Also, at 23.1%, the US recently ranked 34 of 35 among industrialized countries in terms of the relative percentage of children living in poverty

Source: UNICEF 2012

http://www.feedingamerica.org/


Significance: Lost Calories

• Wasted food prevents needed calories from reaching the mouths of the needy

• If we could save ¼ of the food currently lost or wasted globally, it would be enough to feed the 870 million hungry across the globe today

Source: FAO Save Food 2013


Significance: Wasted Nutrients

• All too often, high quality calories (fruits, vegetables, and meat proteins go to the waste stream rather than to individuals


Significance: Obesity

• More than 1/3 of Americans are obese, including 17% of children ages 2-19 Source: www.cdc.gov 2013

• In the US, obesity rates have doubled in children and tripled in adolescents in the last 30 years Source: www.cdc.gov 2013

• High quality calories currently being wasted could offset the challenges of food deserts

http://www.cdc.gov/

http://www.cdc.gov/

Environmental Impact

• Wasted Food = Wasted Water• “Globally, the loss of water through food

wastage would easily meet the household water needs of the 9 billion people expected in 2050”

Source: FAO: Food Wastage Footprints, 2012


Environmental Impact: Air

• Wasted Food = Air Pollution• Food waste is a major component of landfills;

decomposing food pollutes the air and contributes to global warming through methane emissions

• Methane gas has more than 20 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide

Source: www.epa.gov, 2013

http://www.epa.gov/

Environmental Impact: Energy

• Wasted Food = Wasted Energy• US food wastage represents 300 million

barrels of oil per year • That’s 4% of our nation’s oil use Source: FAO: Food Wastage Footprints, 2012

• And we use even more energy when we haul it away to landfills


Environmental Impact: Resources

• Wasted Food = Wasted Resources• Waste of all of the Agricultural inputs that

went into producing the wasted food – including fertilizer and pesticides – which also contribute to water pollution via runoff


Environmental Impact: Soils

• Wasted Food = Depleted soils• The production of meat and dairy products

wasted annually in the US and UK require 8.3 million hectares (about 2/3 the size of NY)

Source: FAO: Food Wastage Footprints, 2012.

• The press for land disrupts climate and hydrological cycles, and threatens to reduce the productivity of land by 25% this century

Source: Stuart, 2009.


Environmental Impact: Land

• Wasted Food = Increased Landfills

• Food Waste that is not going to compost uses up limited space, increases landfill requirements, and creates additional environmental problems


A Dysfunctional Circle

Current Food System: Roughly half of food lost along the way


The Impact of Dysfunction

• We’re producing more than we need in developed countries

• At every stage we are devoting finite resources to produce food that we eventually discard

• In the final stages we inflict even more harm on the environment by disposing of food that we did not use (methane emissions, groundwater)

• We fail to divert over a billion tons of excess food to eliminate hunger annually


The Result: Wasted Nutrition & Resources


Typical Findings in Retail Sector

• Bad enough • Far Worse


A Problem of Global Security

• How secure is a world where billions are hungry, and live in communities with others who have more than they need?

• Where hunger and obesity coexist? (Dr. Mehmood Khan, PepsiCo)

• And it’s not just a problem for the developing world


And a Moral Problem

• There is a moral issue here as well• All individuals have a basic right to food and

adequate nutrition• Yet we discard immense quantities of food,

enough to totally eliminate hunger Source: www.ampleharvest.org, 2013)

• On moral grounds alone, reducing food waste should be a global priority

http://www.ampleharvest.org/


Sum: The Big Disconnect

We waste roughly 30-50% of food produced, yet:• Roughly 1 in 8 across the globe are hungry• We need to feed another 2 billion by 2050• Resources are limited/environment is

challenged• We need to find sustainable ways to close the

calorie gap anticipated by 2050


The Need to Reframe

• Reframe: 9BX2050 = Opportunity

The 9 billion by 2050 problem needs:• An effective global network• A focus on opportunity (multiple)• A sustainability focus• Urgency


The Need to be Mainstream

• The lack of mainstream attention given to food waste – and the lack of a sustained and unified global effort to reduce it to date – suggests a lack of understanding of the potential social, economic, and environmental benefits of such reduction


The Need for Awareness & Action

• Increased awareness of the scale of the global food waste problem is needed among consumers, business, and government leaders

• Tangible action is needed by them to reduce food waste as part of a broad, durable, collaborative global resource optimization strategy to prepare the world for 9 billion people by 2050


Choices Regarding Excess Food

• EPA Hierarchy view:

Source: www.epa.gov

• How do we make this second nature for all?

• How do we go even further?

• It’s about valuing our resources, especially our food

• Requires a long term versus short term view


Mindset Change

We need global mindset change for sustainable behavior:• Social impact• Environmental impact• Resource Efficiency (i.e. people, planet, profit)


Need to Overcome Barriers to Change

• Lack of awareness, hence lack of concern• “A problem for the next generation”• Short term versus long term focus• Perceived difficulty in donation programs• Fear of liability in donating excess food• Discarding food in trash is too easy and inexpensive• Unwillingness to move away from current

economic model which doesn’t factor in costs of environmental externalities


Need for Urgent Change

• Food waste must get on national agendas, and it must become a global priority

• It needs a global network approach (Rischard) coupled with a focus on opportunity

• It needs new collaborative partnerships and urgency


Rischard: Urgent Global ProblemsKey: Poverty & EnvironmentFirst 8 of 20 Global Problems:• Global warming• Biodiversity and Ecosystem

loss• Fisheries depletion• Deforestation• Water deficits• Maritime safety and pollution• Renewing the attack on

poverty• Conflict prevention and

preventing terrorismSource: Rischard, 2003

• Note the link to the food system for all of these

• Interdependence

• Urgency• New solutions

needed quickly


Time for Networked Change

Rischard:• Need for a “networked governance” approach • Knowledge-based teams forming transparent

collaborative, global networks • Appeal to universal values• Spirit of global citizenship• Establish global norms regarding minimizing

food waste, and a system to monitorSource: Rischard, 2003


Food Waste Crisis = Opportunity

• Yunus: “A great crisis offers great opportunity” (from The End of Poverty)

• The problem of global food waste is intertwined with the dual problems of hunger and the environment

• It provides a colossal opportunity for global collaboration on elimination of hunger and optimization of resources


A Focus on Opportunities

• The overriding opportunity created by the problem of global food waste in conjunction with 9Bx2050 can be viewed in several distinct pieces

• Ten such opportunities include…


Opportunity #1

Expand national/global awareness and education on food waste• Overcome suppressed discomfort• Change the culture of abundance• Educate on the value of food • Educate consumers to drive change • New compact between consumers & retailers• Leverage FAO work


Opportunity #2

Make inroads toward eliminating hunger• Hunger and food waste must be connected• Requires short term and long term action• Partnerships to efficiently capture and redistribute

excess food in the short term• Long term: global commitment to eliminate poverty,

and hunger• 9Bx2050 provides the needed urgency for global

collaboration


Opportunity #3

Make significant contributions to the environment• Rising population = more strain on resources• Food waste violates The Natural Step’s

sustainability conditions• Lack of access to adequate food and water

promotes an insecure world• Reducing food waste helps optimize resources

and minimize pollution


Opportunity #4

Make inroads on obesity and health• The medical costs of obesity were estimated

at $147 billion in 2008 Source: www.cdc.gov 2013

• Capturing and redirecting excess food can provide high quality calories to the food insecure, offset problems of food deserts, reduce long term health care costs

http://www.cdc.gov/


Opportunity #5

Build “community” on a much greater level• Bring nations together with shared purpose

in a global effort to solve the critical challenges of hunger and the environment

• Opportunity to create unprecedented global collaboration – the fate of the planet depends on it


Opportunity #6

Develop innovative partnerships on food waste and share success• Create partnerships to match the excess food with

those who desperately need it• Educate stakeholders on benefits of partnering• Capture high quality food, including imperfect

produce; convert excess food into healthy meals that can be stored/frozen

• Create national and global awareness campaigns on food waste reduction


Opportunity #7

Harness the power of business• Business has incentive to lead sustainability

initiatives; innovating for sustainability is crucial for survival

• Solving the global food waste problem and the 9Bx2050 problem provides tremendous opportunities for business


Opportunity #8

See the benefits of, and move toward, a new economic system• Create recognition of environmental costs• Move away from take-make-waste model to a

more regenerative economic model which mimics nature (outputs from one phase become inputs for another) Source: Senge et al., 2001

• Move toward Capitalism 3.0 (eco-system awareness) Source: Scharmer, 2009.

Opportunity #9

Experiment with scaling up; coordinating large national/global projects• Draw on lessons from the Olympic Games; global

investment, collaboration, urgency• Create new compact between consumers and

retailers• Create New Deal-type programs to capture and

redistribute excess food efficiently • Legislation to spur food recovery, decrease food

waste www.responsecology.com


Opportunity #10

Change the world for the better• Minimizing global food waste has significant

positive implications for ending hunger, improving the environment, and enabling food security for all

• Opportunity to unleash global creative capacity on a major problem that impacts all nations

• “Crowdsourcing with uber-purpose”


Conclusions

• The global food waste problem is enormous, and intertwined with the problems of hunger and the environment


Conclusions

• Our values are far out of balance

• We have lost touch with the value of our food – to the detriment of people and planet


Conclusions

• The current state of waste, pollution, and hunger is unsustainable

• In 2050, the world’s scarce resources will be impacted by another two billion people, many of whom will have increased purchasing power putting a further strain on resources

• We cannot afford to waste 30-50% of our food, nor can we afford the environmental impact of that waste


Conclusions

• Urgent change is needed to reduce food waste around the globe

• A new, durable, collaborative global network with an opportunity focus is needed

• Acting with urgency• Harnessing expertise, driven by shared values• Uniting consumers, business, governments, and

NGOS to minimize food waste and optimize resources to prepare the world for 9 billion by 2050


Conclusions

• The effort to reduce global food waste is a key component of the larger sustainability effort to provide food to millions, improve the environment, and create a more secure world

• It is an essential journey in which we all need to participate

• Need to view as an opportunity that cannot be missed


References

• Bloom. American Wasteland. 2010.• FAO. Sustainability Pathways. Food Wastage Footprints. 2012.• FAO. Save Food. Global Initiative on Food Losses and Waste Reduction. 2013.• FAO. The State of Food and Agriculture. 2013.• FAO, WFP, and IFAD. The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2012. • Fox. Global Food: Waste Not, Want Not. 2013.• Gunders, How America Is Losing Up to 40 Percent of Its Food from Farm to Fork.

2012.• Gustavvson et al. Global Food Losses and Food Waste – Extent, Causes, and

Prevention. 2011. • Kantor, et al. Estimating and Addressing America’s Food Losses. 1997.• Khan. What is Food Security? http://

dsc.discovery.com/tv-shows/curiosity/videos/curiosity-expert-mehmood-khan-videos.htm

http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-shows/curiosity/videos/curiosity-expert-mehmood-khan-videos.htm




References

• Lundqvist et al. Saving Water: From Field to Fork – Curbing Losses and Wastage in the Food Chain. 2008.

• Rischard. New Global Agenda. 2003.• Scharmer. The Blind Spot of Economic Thought: Seven Acupuncture Points

for Shifting to Capitalism 3.0. 2009.• Senge, et al. Innovating Our Way to the Next Industrial Revolution. 2001.• Stuart. Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal. 2009.• USDA. Food Waste: An Opportunity To Improve Resource Use. 1977.• UNICEF. Measuring Child Poverty: New league tables of child poverty in the

world’s richest countries. 2012.• WRAP. The Food We Waste. 2008.• www.ampleharvest.org. 2013.

http://www.ampleharvest.org/


References

• www.cdc.gov. 2013.• www.endhunger.org. 2013.• www.epa.gov. 2013.• www.epa.gov/climatechange/ghgemissions/gases.html• www.feedingamerica.org. 2013.• Yunus. The End of Poverty. 2010.

http://www.cdc.gov/

http://www.endhunger.org/

http://www.epa.gov/

http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/ghgemissions/gases.html

http://www.feedingamerica.org/

Valuing Our Food: Minimizing Waste and Optimizing Resources - The Scope of the Global Food Waste...

Business

Transcript of Valuing Our Food: Minimizing Waste and Optimizing Resources - The Scope of the Global Food Waste...