The Real Cost of Food Waste
Stats and numbers are one thing. But often, understanding an issue at it’s core needs one to understand the system. In fact, it has taken me a while to develop true appreciation for the impact of food waste. I thought it was only fair to capture it and share.
Why food is a special beast
Waste of any resource is undesirable. But, food is a special beast. And, one third of food produced globally is wasted. But, why is that? What makes food special?
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Not all things are equal, and it follows therefore that not all waste is equal.
Food is a particularly special beast, which makes this stat that much more alarming.
Food is the single most consumed commodity: We eat at least 3 times a day. There is no other product we use that much of each day. The Center for Sustainable Systems at University of Michigan estimates that Food accounts for 10-30% of a household’s carbon footprint. So this donut above that we’re wasting one third of, turns out it’s a really huge and yummy donut.
Food is a consumable: Which means, it is a single use product. Unlike clothing, accessories, toys, furniture, home decor, appliances, utensils and the many other items we buy, Food cannot be re used. For every one of those 3 meals, we need a new plate of food.
Food is a perishable consumable: Not only is Food single use, it comes with a shelf life, a timer on it. It needs to be used within that time, or it spoils. So in some way, this is a product that has a very high propensity to be wasted.
And yet, Food is some of the least expensive items we buy: Food at home only makes up 5% of an average household’s disposable personal income, even though it makes up nearly 10 - 30% of the household’s carbon footprint. This makes sense. Food is an essential commodity, and it makes sense that it is widely accessible and inexpensive. However, this also means that when we throw away food, it doesn’t particularly pinch us too hard.
In summary, we have a system where we have taken our highest volume, and most vulnerable consumable; and minimized all incentive from society to try and preserve it.
It is no wonder therefore that we see one third of this particular product being wasted.
But, how does Food Waste hurt us?
People often ask me how Food Waste hurts. Isn’t Food organic? Won’t it just decompose and be returned back to nature? Shouldn’t we be focusing on reducing plastic and other trash instead?
The fact of the matter however is that, Food Waste is a sneaky beast that hurts us silently, and far worse than most of us are aware. The real cost of Food Waste is almost invisible.
The environmental cost:
“The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it.” – Robert Swan
The environmental cost of Food Waste falls into three buckets.
Resource use:
In the U.S. , food and agriculture consumes up to 16% of energy, almost half of the land, and accounts for 67% of the nation's freshwater use (NRDC, 2017). So, when we waste 1/3rd of this food, we are wasting all of the resources that went into putting it on our table.
The dinner I’m going to eat tonight will make a long, arduous and resource intensive journey to end up on my plate.
It has to first be grown: Nearly 65% of total emissions are at this stage. Growing food requires land, water and nutrients (fertilizers). And when it comes to animal food production, the land and water use is very steep. To produce a pound of beef or a gallon of milk, a cow has to be raised for 2 or more years. We have to first grow the food to feed it every day, take care of it’s health, and dispose off it’s waste appropriately. It is at the end of these 2 years that the cow will give you it’s first gallon of milk. Plant based food is much less resource intensive, but has a footprint all the same.
It has to be processed: According to CDC, approximately 60% of the American diet consists of processed foods. Wikipedia says processing consists of drying, threshing, winnowing, milling, shelling, butchering, freezing, smoking, canning, candling, pasteurizing, fermenting, baking and many other methods. At scale, most of these consume energy of one form or the other to run mechanical equipment.
It has to be packaged: The perishable nature of food means that food needs to be packaged in small enough sizes as to be consumable in a relatively short period. For most food, once the package is opened, exposure to air and other elements speeds up the spoilage process. However, food being an inexpensive product implies that the packaging needs to be comparatively inexpensive too. You wouldn’t buy something where the packaging cost more than the product. This usually results in tons of cheap packaging material adding to waste in general.
It has to be transported: In today’s globalized world, we are all exposed continually to ingredients and cuisines from around the world, whether it be through trending recipes on Instagram, or the latest food blog on Youtube. This is part of the joy of living in today’s day and age. But, it also means that we incur an invisible environmental cost when we eat food transported from another part of the world. Recently, consumer demand for food grown and harvested locally has been increasing, which is a great sign. We need to eat more local.
It has to be refrigerated: Throughout the entire journey above, our food needs to be kept in cool enough conditions to prevent spoilage. Refrigeration is another hidden beast that deserves it’s own section. So, keep reading..
HFC emissions due to refrigeration:
Hydrofluorocarbon (HFCs) are a highly potent greenhouse gas that have 3,790 times the warming potential of CO2 in a 20 year period. That is because, these suckers have amazing heat storing potential (which is why they are used in refrigeration). And what’s more, our HFC usage is growing at over 10% each year.
HFCs are an entirely man made gas which are primarily used as coolants in refrigeration. The food cold chain alone is responsible for a third of (HFC) emissions, or 1% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
HFCs were introduced commercially to replace ozone depleting substances and the growing demand for cooling in the early 1990s. Their use has grown rapidly over the past several decades. Little did we know then, that in our effort to protect the ozone layer, we were going to accelerate warming our atmosphere. Fortunately, there are many climate-friendly alternatives to HFCs, and emissions can be virtually eliminated by 2050. But until then, we will continue to spew this potent gas into the atmosphere for every unit of food we purchase.
Methane emissions from Manure and Landfills:
Methane (CH4) is another potent greenhouse gas that has 86 times the warming potential of CO2 in a 20 year period. They are less potent than HFCs, but we emit so much more of Methane, that overall, Methane contributes to 20% of all emissions.
The largest source of human caused Methane emissions (40%) is cow manure. Yes, cow poop emits Methane. And we grow a lot of cows, because we eat a lot of meat, and drink a lot of milk. Therefore, our food production emits a lot of Methane.
The third largest source of human caused Methane emissions(20%) is from Landfills. You see - food that we throw away does not always get composted. In fact, most of it ends up in landfill. Turns out, a quarter of US landfills are made up of organic waste.
And why is that an issue? Because, organic matter, if given access to Oxygen, will undergo an aerobic process resulting in beneficial material such as compost, rich in nutrients and ready to be of service to the environment. However in landfills, because food is buried under plastic and all the other inorganic trash, it does not get access to Oxygen; and therefore undergoes a different chemical process producing Methane.
In summary, between resource use, HFC emissions from refrigeration, and methane emissions from manure and landfills, Food Waste contributes to nearly 11% of global emissions, and 22% of fresh water use.
And for kicks, to those that were asking about plastic vs food waste, here’s a fun fact: Sending just 1kg of food waste to landfill produces the same carbon emissions as landfilling a staggering 25,000 500ml plastic bottles. 😲
The economic cost:
“Imagine walking out of a grocery store with four bags of groceries, dropping one in the parking lot, and just not bothering to pick it up. That’s essentially what we’re doing.” - Dana Gunders
For those economists among us, Food waste burns a hole in our pockets too. Each year, we waste $1 Trillion worth of food globally, with $310B (30% of it) in US alone.
Those are some big numbers, and my mind has a way of glossing over big numbers because I don’t understand them. So, let’s try and put that into context.
$1T is equal to the GDP of entire countries such as Australia or South Korea.
$1T is enough to eradicate world hunger. To feed the 800M people that suffer from food insecurity right now.
$1T is greater than the annual global spending on sectors like education, healthcare, or renewable energy.
In the US context, $310B is significantly more than the annual budget of several key federal agencies, such as the Department of Education, the Department of Energy, or the Department of Transportation.
And to further drive this home, if $310B were to be thrown away as $100 bills (and not food waste), it would take 18,750,000 suitcases to fit these bills neatly stacked. Or a landfill as large as about 100 football fields. And if one were to burn this cash instead of throwing it away, it would take an army of 13,000 people working continuously for a year for 24 hours a day, to burn 18,750,000 suitcases.
All that is to say that this is a huge amount of waste, which could be redirected to more critical uses, such as feeding the hungry, conserving natural resources, or addressing global environmental challenges.
On a more personal level, in America, nearly half this waste is in households. A typical American household throws away more than one month’s worth of rent on food waste each year. If that doesn’t make us think, what else could? 🤔
The ethical cost:
“It’s a strange world we live in, where some people's trash contains more food than some people's stomach.” - Abhijit Naskar
By now, the ethical cost of food waste must already be apparent. But, here are some facts to support them specifically.
Nearly 800M people globally suffer from hunger. After steadily declining for a decade, world hunger is on the rise, affecting nearly 10% of people globally. From 2019 to 2022, the number of undernourished people grew by as many as 150 million, a crisis driven largely by conflict, climate change, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
2.3 billion people are facing less extreme, but still dangerous, levels of food insecurity. That’s roughly 29% of the global population.
45% of child deaths worldwide are due to hunger and related causes. When we are ok with food waste, we’re saying we’re ok with a child dying of hunger.
People often ask me how food waste reduction in America could realistically feed someone starving in Africa. It feels like a false dilemma to many. However the thing is, when we buy something and throw it away, we are taking food out of the global marketplace, driving up demand and thus global prices of that food, and making it unaffordable for many. By buying only as much as we need, we can bring demand down to more realistic levels, allowing for the surplus supply to find new markets.
If reading about world hunger made your heart sink, remember; this doesn’t even consider the ethical cost of continuing to degrade our environment for our future generations.
What personal action can I take?
On a cheerful note though, fortunately this is one space, where taking personal action is not only easy, but is probably the only meaningful solution available. Nearly half the food waste in developed countries is in homes. So, we have to make a change in our homes, to solve this problem.
It starts with acknowledging that we buy 40% more food than we can eat as a society. All of us are part of this problem. Most people I speak to seem to think that they do not waste in their particular household. This isn’t because they are lying, or trying to hide bad behavior. It is just because we are not aware of how much we waste. Because like I said earlier, this beast is sneaky and invisible.
The most powerful action we can take is to acknowledge the beast.
At CutWaste, we want to find a way to make it extremely convenient and even fun for homes to reduce food waste, save money and start healing the planet. And we invite you to partner with us on this journey. Download the product, give us feedback, spread the word. Every bit counts.
