One-fifth of all food is wasted, analysis reveals

ALMOST a fifth of food available to consumers worldwide is lost through either overeating or waste, according to a study.

Researchers from Edinburgh and York Universities analysed the global food system using data from the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation. It found the world’s population consumes about 10 per cent more food than it needs and almost nine per cent is thrown away or left to spoil.

The researchers looked at losses at stages in the production process and found almost half of all harvested crops – 2.1 billion tonnes – are lost, taking into account inefficiencies in production processes as well as consumer waste and over-consumption.

The study again stressed the inefficiency of livestock production, which it said produced losses of 78 per cent on harvested crops.

They found that about 1.08 billion tonnes of harvested crops are used to produce 240 million tonnes of edible animal products including meat, milk and eggs.

The research, published in the journal Agricultural Systems, said reducing waste in food production and consumption could improve global food security, although increased demand for some foods, particularly meat and dairy products, will decrease the efficiency of the food system further.

It said encouraging people to eat fewer animal products, reduce waste and not exceed their nutritional needs could help to reverse these trends and a failure to address the situation could see an rise greenhouse gas emissions, deplete water supplies and cause a loss of biodiversity.