Almost half of the food produced in the world goes to waste every year, report has revealed.
UK’s Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) blamed the “staggering” new figures in its analysis on unnecessarily strict sell-by dates, buy-one-get-one free and Western consumer demand for cosmetically perfect food.
In the face of United Nations prediction that there could be about an extra 3 billion people to feed by the end of the century and growing pressure on the resources needed to produce food, including land, water and energy, the IMechE called for urgent action to tackle wastage of food.
The report, titled Global Food: Waste Not, Want Not, found that between 30 percent and 50 percent or 1.2-2bn tonnes of food produced around the world never made it on to a plate.
In the UK, as much as 30 percent of vegetable crops are not harvested due to their failure to meet retailers’ exacting standards on physical appearance, the report revealed.
Furthermore, the report revealed that at least 550bn cubic metres of water was wasted globally in growing crops that never reached the consumer.
Tim Fox, head of Energy and Environment at the IMechE, said, “The amount of food wasted and lost around the world is staggering. This is food that could be used to feed the world’s growing population – as well as those in hunger today. It is also an unnecessary waste of the land, water and energy resources that were used in the production, processing and distribution of this food.”
In order to prevent further waste, governments, development agencies and organisation like the UN “must work together to help change people’s mindsets on waste and discourage wasteful practices by farmers, food producers, supermarkets and consumers,” the IMechE said.
