Food Waste Intelligence

When all contributors are factored in–from land use to food waste–the food system contributes approximately 34 percent of global emissions. This surpasses electricity production and industry by approximately 10 percent each, making it the largest greenhouse gas emitting economic sector in the world.

The finding, from Project Drawdown, is accompanied by four primary actions to reduce the food system’s impact. The first is to improve food system efficiency.

“The best place to start is curbing food loss and waste,” wrote Project Drawdown Executive Director Jonathan Foley.

“A staggering 30 to 40 percent of the world’s food is never eaten,” Foley continues. “With roughly one in three units of food lost or wasted, we have to grow about 50 percent more food than we actually eat. This inefficiency costs the world money and resources, exacerbates food insecurity, and causes environmental damage.”

The other actions to address the food systems contribution to climate change are protecting ecosystems, improving farming methods, and improving things like transportation and refrigeration methods.

The report is full of other staggering data points:

• We use a land area equivalent to the size of South America to grow crops. (Keep in mind that half of that area is used to compensate for lost and wasted food.)
• An area the size of Africa is used to graze animals, mainly cattle.
• The food system is the largest driver of habitat and biodiversity loss on the planet.
• It is by far the biggest user of water on Earth (using about 70 percent of fresh waste resources) as well as the biggest water polluter.

When food is wasted, all of those resources are squandered and wasted food continues to create further impact, emitting methane–one of the most powerful greenhouse gasses–as it decays.

The good news is that the foodservice industry can be part of the solution. Find out more about the power of food waste prevention in our free e-book Why Food Waste Prevention Should Be Your Top Sustainability Initiative. And contact Leanpath today to learn how your operation can cut its food waste in half.