Reducing food waste is a key challenge in fighting climate change. Wasted and lost food accounts for almost 10% of all our greenhouse gas emissions.
Common estimates for global food waste are too low, according to Dutch researchers, who suggest every person in the world is wasting about 500 calories of food a day. Previous estimates have put global food waste at 214 calories per day per person (214 kilocalories/day/capita - a kilocalorie is another word for what's commonly called a calorie). Without waste, we could feed five people instead of four, they said. The research did not include food lost in the production process before it gets to the consumer. The widely quoted figure of one third of all food available for human consumption lost or wasted is made up of both food lost before it reaches the consumer, which the study did not look at, and food wasted once it arrives in the kitchen.
They say behavioural change is important, such as encouraging shoppers to switch from buying in excess or hoarding to shopping for "enough", with the thought that you can always acquire more.
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