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Contact FAO Erwin Northoff (Geneva) Charmaine Wilkerson (Rome) UNEP Nick Nuttall (Geneva) UNEP Newsdesk (Nairobi) |
Think, Eat, Save: FAO, UNEP and partners launch global campaign on food wasteConsumers, industry, government can all help to reduce 1.3 billion tonnes of yearly waste and losses 22 January 2012, Geneva/Rome - Simple actions by consumers and food retailers can dramatically cut the 1.3 billion tonnes of food lost or wasted each year and help shape a sustainable future, according to a new global campaign to cut food waste launched today by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), and partners.
"Aside from the cost implications, all the land, water, fertilizers and labour needed to grow that food is wasted - not to mention the generation of greenhouse gas emissions produced by food decomposing on landfill and the transport of food that is ultimately thrown away," he added. "To bring about the vision of a truly sustainable world, we need a transformation in the way we produce and consume our natural resources." "Together, we can reverse this unacceptable trend and improve lives. In industrialized regions, almost half of the total food squandered, around 300 million tonnes annually, occurs because producers, retailers and consumers discard food that is still fit for consumption," said José Graziano da Silva, FAO Director-General. "This is more than the total net food production of Sub-Saharan Africa, and would be sufficient to feed the estimated 870 million people hungry in the world." "If we can help food producers to reduce losses through better harvesting, processing, storage, transport and marketing methods, and combine this with profound and lasting changes in the way people consume food, then we can have a healthier and hunger-free world," Graziano da Silva added.
The global food system has profound implications for the environment, and producing more food than is consumed only exacerbates the pressures, some of which follow:
Part of the trigger for the campaign was the outcome of the Rio+20 Summit in June 2012, in which Heads of State and governments gave the go-ahead for a 10-Year Framework of Programmes for Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) Patterns. Developing an SCP programme for the food sector must be a vital element of this framework, given the need to sustain the world's food production base, reduce associated environmental impacts, and feed a growing human population. "There can be no other area that is perhaps so emblematic of the opportunities for a far more resource-efficient and sustainable world - and there is no other issue that can unite North and South and consumers and producers everywhere in common cause," said Mr. Steiner. According to FAO, roughly 95 per cent of food loss and waste in developing countries are unintentional losses at early stages of the food supply chain due to financial, managerial and technical limitations in harvesting techniques; storage and cooling facilities in difficult climatic conditions; infrastructure; packaging and marketing systems.
According to WRAP, the average UK family could save £680 per year ($1,090) and the UK hospitality sector could save £724 million ($1.2 billion) per year by tackling food waste.
In a similar vein for other parts of the world, the European Union is looking into the issue of food waste, and the European Commission has lent its weight to the new initiative. "In the EU we have set ourselves a target to halve edible food waste by 2020 and to virtually eliminate landfilling by 2020; the Commission is planning to present ideas next year on the sustainability of the food system which will have a strong focus on food waste," said Janez Potočnik, European Commissioner for the Environment. "Less food waste would lead to more-efficient land use, better water resource management, more sustainable use of phosphorus, and it would have positive repercussions on climate change. Our work fits perfectly with the launch of this initiative," he added.
The campaign website provides simple tips to consumers and retailers, will allow users to make food waste pledges, and provides a platform for those running campaigns to exchange ideas and create a truly global culture of sustainable consumption of food. |
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