Food waste is a global climate, food security, and economic challenge. From farms and commercial kitchens to households and landfills, roughly one-third of all food produced globally is lost or wasted, costing the global economy roughly US$1 trillion annually and driving 8 to 10 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Meanwhile, an estimated 1 in 11 people face chronic hunger and undernourishment worldwide.
With this in mind, “food waste belongs at the center of the conversation on climate action,” says Martin Krause, Director of the Climate Change Division at UNEP.
Krause spoke at “Solving Food Waste is a Key Solution to the Climate Crisis,” a Food Tank Summit at Climate Week NYC, held in partnership with the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), Food Planet Prize, NRDC, Restaurant Technologies, CookUnity, and Mill. Throughout the morning, speakers agreed that addressing food waste requires action across the food system, from agricultural production and government policy to businesses and households.
Speakers emphasized the importance of preventing waste at the farm level—where unharvested surplus crops, strict cosmetic standards, and economic factors can sometimes make it unprofitable or impractical to pick and sell everything that is grown.
U.S. Representative Andrea Salinas (D-OR) points to the financial pressures that force farmers to waste food: “A lot of our growers are leaving their crops in the fields or orchards. Some of it is it just isn’t going to pencil out for them to harvest…This is all food that should not be wasted,” says Salinas.
Yet food waste prevention at the farm level “is what keeps the most carbon in the ground and keeps the most people alive,” says Veleké Brown, CEO of E-RoadMap and Velloris and Executive Director of E-RoadMap Corporation. “When we talk about food waste, most people work at the end of the line moving surplus, but my work is upstream where the waste is quieter.”
U.S. Representative Melanie Stansbury (D-NM) says reducing food waste also requires examining how food is distributed and who has access to it.
“Part of why you have food waste is because farmers are producing agricultural products they’re selling nationally and internationally, and local people who are hungry cannot get their hands on that food. We have not, as a country, made it a policy priority to address this,” says Stansbury. “We cannot talk about food waste without talking about fixing the food system.”
Food recovery can help connect surplus food with communities experiencing food insecurity, but speakers say that donations must meet people’s needs.
“Even if you do all this work to donate the excess food, if it isn’t intentional and what people want, it just ends up in the trash,” says Matthew Jozwiak, Founder and CEO of Rethink Food.
And strong partnerships are necessary to expand food recovery efforts, says María Bengochea, Director of Sustainability & Standards at CookUnity.
“We are suffering from many climate crises…we need to unlock emergency donations for people who are suffering from this. It’s important to have strong partners who are really committed,” says Bengochea.
Especially at a time when fuel and grocery prices are at historic highs across the world, speakers say that communicating with consumers about food waste prevention must point to the financial benefits.
“Reducing methane emissions might not land with people, but reducing their grocery bill will,” says Tia Schwab, Senior Manager of U.S. Food Systems at C40 Cities
And for Madeline Keating of NRDC, infrastructure and education are critical components of making any food waste production effort successful. If the compost stream is contaminated or there are not enough facilities to process it, then efforts to increase composting practices will be wasted.
“Cities can realize the most cost savings from reducing food waste when they look at their entire waste system. But a really critical piece is education,” says Keating.
In commercial kitchens, this also means engaging employees at every level.
“It really just comes down to the actions of the chefs and making sure everyone from hourly associates to executive chefs knows what they need to do in their specific roles,” says Gwyneth Rampton, Vice President of Sustainability at Compass Group USA.
And at the retail level, Jackie Suggitt, Senior Director of Waste & Circularity at Walmart, calls for faster implementation of solutions that already exist.
“Let’s not wait for the next thing to come along and fix all the problems…we have enough to be moving and moving quickly,” says Suggitt. “I would like to see us implement at scale faster. People love pilots…we need to move past that.”
As speakers emphasized throughout the event, reducing food waste requires coordinated action across the food system. From preventing waste on farms and connecting surplus food with communities to improving infrastructure and changing consumer behavior, existing solutions can help move the food system toward greater sustainability.
“We do have the solutions; let’s implement them,” says Krause.
Articles like the one you just read are made possible through the generosity of Food Tank members. Can we please count on you to be part of our growing movement? Become a member today by clicking here.
