At Leanpath we have long recognized the connection between food waste and climate change. That critical connection is foundational to our mission of making food waste prevention and measurement everyday practice in the world’s kitchens.
The food waste-climate connection has been amplified by many organizations. For example, the UNFAO famously noted years ago that if ranked as a country, food waste would be the third largest emitter of greenhouse gas emissions behind the U.S. and China. The World Wildlife Fund recently found that global food wastage accounts for up to 10% of global emissions. And the Project Drawdown team cited food waste reduction as one of the top solutions to climate change.
In addition, UK-based WRAP highlighted a critical point in a recent report (Food Loss and Waste: From Commitments to Action) that bears repeating: We cannot achieve net zero emissions without tackling food loss and waste.
We are all seeing signs of emissions-driven climate change around the world in recent weeks in the form of record temperatures, drought, fires, and floods, and we think it is important to highlight stories reflecting those signals.
We asked some of our Leanpath team members from around the globe to weigh in on how they are experiencing the impacts of climate change in their respective regions.
Our VP of Customer Success, Mark Ace, commented on the extreme temperatures facing Arizona and neighboring states: “Here in the American southwest, we are familiar with hot summers. However, the summer of 2023 has been a record-breaker. In Tucson, where I live, the region is on track to have 45 consecutive days of temperatures over 100°F (37.7°C). That easily breaks the previous streak of 39 days.”
In Uruguay, climate-induced drought conditions are so severe that the government was recently forced to
connect brackish water supplies to the reservoir that provides drinking water to much of the country’s population. That has led many citizens to shift to purchases of bottled water, both for taste and health reasons. Matias Medina of our Engineering team weighed in on the water situation in his region:
“Never in Uruguayan history have people had to buy water, and we were really proud of that. A few years ago, I visited other countries in South America and noted that many people had to buy bottled water for usage. I told them that In Uruguay, if you want a glass of water, you can just ask for it at any location because you can drink water from the tap. Sadly, I cannot say that today. I’m really ashamed to tell others here today that if you need water, you should probably buy it.”
Much of the EU region has also been ravaged by extremely high temperatures in recent weeks. Our UK-based Senior Customer Success Manager, Ingrid Fontaine, noted that “According to Copernicus (European Climate Change Observatory), July of 2023 is heading toward being the hottest month ever recorded. In the South of France, this intensity is felt by the citizens day and night; for some of my friends who live in a flat without air conditioning, the indoor temperature does not go below 30°C (86°F) multiple days in a row.”
Similarly, China has also experienced record temperatures in recent weeks. Qiao Zheng of our Customer Success team chimed in on the situation as follows:
"’Have you experienced electricity cuts due to grid overload?’ This has become my phobia for this summer. I
reside in Guangzhou, one of China's warmest cities, where the temperatures have reached extreme levels this year. It's unimaginable to live without air-conditioning. Since June, the outside temperature consistently remains at 40°C and above. Even in northern cities like Beijing, which typically experience summer temperatures around 20-30°C, records have been broken with temperatures surpassing 40°C this summer.”
Just as Qiao finished providing her thoughts for this post, her apartment suffered a power outage.
In sum, the world is clearly at an inflection point regarding the climate crisis.
All regions of the globe are feeling the effects of emissions-driven global warming,
The food system, and particularly food waste, are key drivers of greenhouse gas emissions – and preventing the occurrence of food waste is a key solution. In fact, the ReFED team recently showed that the majority of the emissions impact of wasted food is upstream, from production through storage and distribution – further validating the importance of food waste prevention.
At Leanpath, our team members see the connection between food waste and climate change. Echoing the WRAP report, we know that we cannot achieve net zero emissions without tackling food loss and waste.
We will continue to highlight that connection, and our team will continue to work to accelerate the needed change in the optimal way – by preventing the occurrence of food waste in foodservice operations.
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