A report was released in Nairobi today by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) that is a bit disturbing: "Over half of the food produced globally is lost, wasted or discarded as a result of inefficiency in the human-managed food chain."
Some examples:
Losses and food waste in the United States could be as high as 50 percent, according to some recent estimates. Up to one-quarter of all fresh fruits and vegetables in the United States is lost between the field and the table.
In Australia it is estimated that food waste makes up half of that country's landfill. Almost one-third of all food purchased in the United Kingdom every year is not eaten.
Losses in the field between planting and harvesting could be as high as 40 percent of the potential harvest in developing countries due to pests and pathogens.
In Africa, the total amount of fish lost through discards, post-harvest loss and spoilage may be around 30 percent of landings. The report estimates that globally about 30 million metric tonnes of fish are discarded at sea every year.
On the one hand, the report suggests that if we were to address these inefficiencies, we probably have the capability to feed the entire planet plus a substantial population increase without any increase in land or resources. We just have to stop throwing food away.
On the other hand, if we continue business as usual, things are likely to get much worse very quickly as environmental systems continue to degrade, agricultural yields continue to drop, water supplies continue to shrink. (Here's a recent report we posted from Kenya on this topic.)
I wonder if there are any Bible passages that speak to this? hmmm...
[Cross-posted at Our Father's World.]
Cris Bisch says:
I've always been troubled by the food waste I've seen around me. Here are a few of the pet-peeves I have about our food consumption habits here in America: (1a) We are taught that it's proper etiquette to always leave some of your meal on your plate or (1b) only take a bite or two of each serving on your plate. (2) Tipping the scale the other way, many restaurants serve outrageously huge meals, which most people can't finish, unless they are a glutton. If they don't take home leftovers, extra food ends up in the landfill. (3) People that are embarrassed to ask for a left-over container to take home with them.
"The Department of Agriculture estimated that recovering just 5 percent of the food that is wasted could feed four million people a day; recovering 25 percent would feed 20 million people." - Our Country's Table Scraps, Another Country's Meat @ http://tinyurl.com/6jxsul.
Author Jonathan Bloom writes a blog dedicated to the topic of Wasted Food @ http://wastedfood.com/.
Ken O. says:
Rising food and transportation costs, outright shortages and more locally grown food (such as in our backyards) will help reduce this issue.
Elli A. says:
Thanks for posting this Ed. What I find interesting is that in the united states, the icon of capitalism, products get thrown away. We are huge on business efficiency to the extreme. Throwing products does not make sense. The only way it can make sense economically is when throwing away is cheaper than not, for example if storage requires refrigeration, so throwing away inventory and buying more a few days later is actually cheaper. I have no idea if there is actually an economic use case like this. It just seems to me that such inefficiency is contradictory to the business mentality of Americans, which are all about efficiency and cost reduction.
In terms of transportation cost making it less of an issue, it is yet to be seen. Transportation cost does not go up for no reason, and the reason that will make it go up will make other costs go up as well. It may just happen that when energy cost goes up storage costs (refrigeration) will go up much more than transportation cost because the energy component of transportation is a smaller percentage than it is in refrigeration. This increases the attractiveness of throw away and transport again later. It’s a complex analysis.
About being local as a solution: Local in many cases means smaller farms, unless you live in the big agricultural states like California and Texas. Smaller is less efficient and much more susceptible to fluctuations, which may mean more throw away and more transportation at the same time in peaks and lows over one season.
Economic reality is much more complex than the simple answers that we look for. Having said that, I was taught to finish everything I put on the plate, or not put it, so throwing away food just seems wrong regardless of economics :)
Cliff B. says:
The closest scriptures that I could find are:
John 6:12
When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, "Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted."
Leviticus 23:22
" 'When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the LORD your God.' "
Ryan Carlson says:
Exodus 16 writes about the Lord providing what His people needed with Manna and Quail, They were instructed to only take what they needed, no more and no less.
Cliff B. says:
Similarly, the New Testament church pooled their money and food, and each took according to their need. It would be interesting to make that one happen today, unless every heart was in the same place before God.