As we reflect on the UN Food Systems Summit held Sept. 23, there is a renewed urgency to tackle the issue of food waste. It is not only the Decade to Deliver on the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) but also the Decade of Ag.
SDG 12 seeks to “ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.” The third target under this goal (Target 12.3) calls for cutting in half per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer level, and reducing food losses along production and supply chains (including post-harvest losses) by 2030.
The COVID-19 pandemic has made the world even more aware of the need to better manage food waste and make our food system more responsive and resilient. According to Feeding America, the food insecurity rate in the U.S. was the lowest it had been in more than twenty years before the pandemic hit: 1 in 9 individuals and 1 in 7 children lived in a food-insecure household in 2019. The number of people struggling with food insecurity grew markedly during the pandemic. The same survey projects 42 million people (1 in 8), including 13 million children (1 in 6), may experience food insecurity in 2021.1
A new white paper authored by U.S. Farmers & Ranchers in Action (USFRA) sets forth the food loss and waste problem and what different stakeholder groups are doing about it.
Four distinct themes emerged from USFRA’s discussions with experts from leading organizations fighting food waste including USDA, ReFED and World Wildlife Fund:
“Farmers and Ranchers need the value chain and consumers to partner with them. We can all do our part and need to work together,” said Erin Fitzgerald, CEO, USFRA. “’Honoring the Harvest’ is about recognizing the hard work of our farmers. As eaters, we can responsibly put ‘just enough’ on our plates and not waste the food that was harvested from our lands. This also helps ensure our food-insecure neighbors get the critical nutrition they need.”
Farmers on the frontlines are doing their part in minimizing food waste while producing the food that will nourish a growing population. “On our family-owned dairy farm in Cochranville, Penn., a methane digester transforms both manure and food waste from the surrounding community into renewable energy,” says Marilyn Hershey, USFRA Board member and dairy industry sustainability leader. “It adds value to the farm, to the local community, and to the environment. Food waste wasn’t the reason we started the project, but it has become a very important source of organic material.”
Yet farmers are only one of many important stakeholders who must rise to this challenge. Food companies, investors, local and national governments, NGOs and civil society all play a part.
An example of the “circular economy” in-action that spans multiple members of the supply chain is biofuel production. Cooking oil from restaurants (known as “used cooking oil” or UCO) can serve as a feedstock for biodiesel when mixed with soybean oil and animal fat (tallow). To make biodiesel, UCO is collected from food processors, restaurants and even home kitchens, reducing waste that would otherwise end up in a landfill or sewer pipes. The soy ingredient is the oil portion of the soybean, leaving all of the protein available to nourish livestock and humans.
By looking at our foodprints, individuals can step up to fight food waste by looking at the relationship they have to food and the choices they make every day. And then make the necessary changes to ensure food is used to its highest purpose.
Reducing food loss and waste presents a rare “triple win”: economic gains, reduction of environmental impacts and improved quality of life for those who currently lack sufficient food. Reductions can save money for farmers, companies, and households. Wasting less means feeding more. And reductions alleviate pressure on climate, water and land resources.
For a deeper dive on this topic, see: “Fighting Food Loss From Farm to Fork.”