Researchers from the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) have suggested that 16 percent of all food sold in Europe goes to waste.

image expired

Wasted meat has largest impact

Vegetables, fruit and cereals are wasted more than other food groups as they tend to have a shorter shelf-life and are often over-purchased because they are generally cheaper than other product groups like meat. Although the amounts of meat wasted are smaller, meat accounts for the largest avoidable food waste footprint because its production is more ‘resource intensive’. In other words, a small reduction in wasted meat equates to a large reduction in wasted water and nitrogen resources.

The JRC team concluded that, “In a world with limited resources, food security can only be achieved by a more sustainable use of resources, along with adaptations to our consumption behaviour, including the reduction or, ideally, the eradication of food waste.”

The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation estimates that between one third and a half of all food produced is wasted between farm and fork. Although in the global south food waste mostly occurs post-harvest, as a result of inadequate infrastructure and storage, in the West, most waste occurs as a result of consumerist mores. Although much recent research has focused on consumer waste, retailers and distributors are coming under increasing scrutiny, and with it pressure to increase transparency and make efforts to tackle avoidable waste.

In 2014, Tesco, the UK’s largest supermarket chain, revealed that the company wasted almost 60,000 tonnes of food in its stores and distribution centres in 2013/14. Bakery items (at 41%) and fresh produce (21%) accounted for most waste. Announcing that the company is seeking to better understand and curb food waste, Tesco announced in June that 30,000 tonnes of produce that would otherwise have gone to waste would be redistributed through charity FareShare.

The announcement marked a U-turn in policy for Tesco, which had previously been involved in prosecuting people who took food from bins outside its stores.