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Last week I threw away half a burrito, some rad lentil salad that got old, and my wallet (but that's another story ...). The point is, I like to think I'm not that big of a food waster, but yep, guilty. I went digging for stats on the subject and found some interesting stuff in the report Global Food Losses and Food Waste. The study was carried out by the Swedish Institute for Food and Biotechnology and was commissioned by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations for a conference on food waste (ironically held at an international packaging industry trade fair) in May. Here are the biggest zingers I learned:
• Consumers in North America and Europe waste about 209 to 253 pounds of food per person every year. The USDA says the average person in the U.S. eats 4.7 pounds of food per day. So that means the amount of food we each waste in the U.S. per year would feed us for about one and a half to two months (44 to 54 days to be exact).
• Globally, one-third of the food produced for human consumption is lost, about 1.3 billion tons.
• Counterintuitively, industrialized and developing countries actually waste about the same amount of food (670 and 630 million tons, respectively).
• The difference is at what level in the food supply chain the waste occurs (and this is where it starts to make sense, and the word waste becomes somewhat relative): In industrialized countries, a lot of waste is at the retail and consumer level; in developing countries it's mostly at the postharvest and processing level. Translation: Stores and people are tossing perfectly edible food, versus food spoiling before it even gets to the store due to limitations in transit/storage/processing.
• In North America and Oceania, 50 percent of the fish and seafood initially caught is wasted.
• "Appearance Quality Standards" can cause human-grade food to be used as animal feed or waste because, say, a carrot curves a little bit more than a supermarket finds desirable.
Image source: Flickr member jbloom under Creative Commons
Hi DaveGr,
Per the "methodology" of the study outlined on page 2, the study defined food waste/loss as such: "Food waste or loss is measured only for products that are directed to human consumption, excluding feed and parts of products which are not edible."
I wonder how many pounds (or kg) of bones, fat, skin, seeds, stems, cores, etc. are classified as food waste or loss. If I buy a one-pound t-bone steak and pick it clean, I still might have 5 ounces of "waste."
No one is ever going to eat the core of an apple or the skin of a grapefruit, yet I wonder if the non-edible parts of foods that are thrown out are counted as waste. Is there some kind...+READ
I wonder how many pounds (or kg) of bones, fat, skin, seeds, stems, cores, etc. are classified as food waste or loss. If I buy a one-pound t-bone steak and pick it clean, I still might have 5 ounces of "waste."
No one is ever going to eat the core of an apple or the skin of a grapefruit, yet I wonder if the non-edible parts of foods that are thrown out are counted as waste. Is there some kind of statistical method for not counting this type of thing? Have the numbers listed above and in the report taken this into consideration?-COLLAPSE
Hi Ed T, the graph is on the bottom of page 8 that shows how the initial catchings of fish and seafood are wasted (with an interesting breakdown too, as to what stage in the food supply chain they are lost).
What is the source for the following statement:
""In North America and Oceania, 50 percent of the fish and seafood initially caught is wasted"".
I could not find it in the FAO document referenced, and am interested to see how it was determined?
@ccbks I always ask for 'ugly' produce at Farmer's markets. Why waste it.
Given the great factual info in this article, it is interesting the obvious calculations that are not done.
For example, how much food does a typical American actually waste IN A DAY?
Well, there are 365 days in a year, and waste of 253 pounds per year comes to about 11 OUNCES PER DAY, or less than 2/3 of a pound.
Other interesting calculations not done above:
* Those 11 ounces are...+READ
Given the great factual info in this article, it is interesting the obvious calculations that are not done.
For example, how much food does a typical American actually waste IN A DAY?
Well, there are 365 days in a year, and waste of 253 pounds per year comes to about 11 OUNCES PER DAY, or less than 2/3 of a pound.
Other interesting calculations not done above:
* Those 11 ounces are equal to about 14 percent of the food a U.S. person is said to eat in a day. That means that, on average 14 percent of each meal is wasted.
We were told that, globally, one-third is lost to waste. But according to the numbers we are given, 14 percent of a typical U.S. diet is lost to waste. Yet, we are told that both industrialized and developing nations waste 'about the same amount of food.'
That CANNOT be so, since the very numbers were are given show that amount of waste by the typical American IS FAR LESS THAN HALF (14 percent vs. 33.3 percent) of the global average.
Waste is always bad. But so is making a complete hash of the facts by faulty logic and sloppy math.
The numbers we are given show that while unacceptably high at at an average of 14 percent of a typical daily diet, the rate of waste by the typical American is far, far less than the global average.-COLLAPSE
While doing research for my book, Farmers' Market Desserts, a farmer told me that he could not afford the labor to pick fruits that were smaller than standard size (even though perfectly good) because distributors and even farmers market shoppers wouldn't buy them. You can help reduce waste and support your local farmer by purchasing produce that doesn't look perfect but still tastes great.
Aramek, I will see your 4 pounds of bacon and raise you 5!
To add perpective to the statistics regarding food waste in industrialized vs. developing counties, it's helpful to note that there are vastly more countries classifiable as developing than industrialized, and that the vast majority of the world's population (over 80%) lives in developing countries. In other words, we in the great minority have as much food discarded in every phase from...+READ
To add perpective to the statistics regarding food waste in industrialized vs. developing counties, it's helpful to note that there are vastly more countries classifiable as developing than industrialized, and that the vast majority of the world's population (over 80%) lives in developing countries. In other words, we in the great minority have as much food discarded in every phase from production to end-consumer as four times our numbers in the rest of the world.-COLLAPSE
That bent carrot brought to mind the excellent Agnes Varda movie, 'The Gleaners and I', which covers many kinds of waste, food especially. Very much worth watching.
I could eat 4 pounds of Bacon.
I'm not sure that we should expect developing nations to have less food waste the industrialized ones. Often the infrastructure is poorer, so delivery and storage systems weaker and therefore more is lost to spoilage and pests than here. Also, when fewer people can afford to buy your crop, you end up either eating it yourself or throwing it away. Most farmers in developing nations still grow food...+READ
I'm not sure that we should expect developing nations to have less food waste the industrialized ones. Often the infrastructure is poorer, so delivery and storage systems weaker and therefore more is lost to spoilage and pests than here. Also, when fewer people can afford to buy your crop, you end up either eating it yourself or throwing it away. Most farmers in developing nations still grow food for money, not charity.-COLLAPSE
I'd imagine that "food" for the purposes of the 4.7lb includes drinks: add your coffee, juice, milk on your cereal, soda... and it would get there pretty quickly.
As for the equivalent amounts of food wasted in developing v. developed world, the observation of where/how it is wasted is excellent. But it might not seem so counter-intuitive if you look at the relative populations (don't know...+READ
I'd imagine that "food" for the purposes of the 4.7lb includes drinks: add your coffee, juice, milk on your cereal, soda... and it would get there pretty quickly.
As for the equivalent amounts of food wasted in developing v. developed world, the observation of where/how it is wasted is excellent. But it might not seem so counter-intuitive if you look at the relative populations (don't know exact stats, but good ol' wikianswers tells me that about 14% of the world's population lives in "highly developed" countries - so may well be that 14% is wasting slightly more than the other 86% combined...)-COLLAPSE
i could eat 4lbs of rad lentil salad
The numbers are pretty meaningless without a really firm definition of waste, though there's little doubt there's a problem. Who the devil eats 4.7 lbs of food a day, that's outrageous?