How greed and our throwaway society wastes fifth of all food
MODERN consumers are overeating or binning almost a fifth of our planet’s food, according to new research.
The world gobbles up 10 per cent more food than it needs and throws away or leaves to spoil a further 9 per cent, the study found.
Researchers from Edinburgh and York universities laid bare the scale of global waste by analysing data from the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation.
They said eating less meat, not exceeding nutritional requirements and reducing the amount of food we throw out could help reverse the trend.
Failure to do so could increase greenhouse gas emissions, deplete water supplies and destroy biodiversity, the scientists warn.
The researchers claim it is the first time the impact of overeating on the global food system has been appreciated.
Obesity in Scotland is among the worst in the world, with two-thirds of adults and 28 per cent of children overweight.
The researchers looked at different stages in the food production process and found almost half of all harvested crops – or 2.1billion tons – are lost. This took into account inefficiencies in production processes, as well as consumer waste and overconsumption.
The study highlighted the inefficiency of livestock production, which it said created losses of 78 per cent on harvested crops. They found that around 1.08billion tons of harvested crops are used to produce 240million tons of edible animal products, including meat, milk and eggs.
Published in the journal Agricultural Systems, the research stressed how stemming waste in production and consumption would improve global food security. However, increased demand for some products in developing parts of the world, particularly meat and dairy, will decrease the efficiency of the food system further.
Dr Peter Alexander, of the University of Edinburgh and Scotland’s Rural College, said: ‘Reducing losses from the global food system would improve food security and help prevent environmental harm. Until now, it was not known how overeating impacts on the system.
‘Not only is it harmful to health, we found that overeating is bad for the environment and impairs food security.’
Professor Dominic Moran, of the University of York, said: ‘This study highlights that food security can only be sustainably achieved through holistic approaches because consumer behaviours, as well as the actions of food producers and processors, all influence the sustainability of the system.
‘To date, much of the focus has been overly dominated by improving production efficiency.’
The researchers worked in collaboration with Scotland’s Rural College, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and the Centre for Australian Weather and Climate Research.
‘Bad for the environment’