Global Food Waste
Global food waste is a far-reaching problem with a tremendous impact on environmental, ethical, and financial costs. The history of global food waste is closely associated with globalization. Global food is lost during and after harvest, handling, processing, storage, and transportation. The long food supply chain across an ever-networked world contributes to global food waste since most of it is wasted or lost at every stage of the journey from the farm to the table. The most vulnerable foods, in this case, include fresh foods such as meat, dairy, vegetables, and fruits. The causes of food loss are related to insufficient cold storage, equipment limitation, or inadequate infrastructure. The paper expressly discusses various ways to reduce the food waste problem in the world.
First, regional and international food companies, together with food chain actors ranging from fishers, farmers, and herders to global corporations, should undertake a rigorous education plan. The education plan should be embedded in promoting sustainable food systems. Melikoglu, Lin, and Webb record that some food is wasted or lost before it leaves the farm, during harvesting, manufacturing, and storage processes in the developing and developed countries (161). The authors further aver that 63 million tons of food is wasted every year in the United States (Melikoglu, Lin, and Webb 162). An integrated approach to sustainable food systems will significantly reduce food waste in the food supply chain. Education will systematically improve the sustainability and efficiency of global food supply chains.
Secondly, the global food waste problem can be addressed through awareness. Raising awareness on the impact of food waste through media campaigns and holding global communication will have a significant effect on people’s habit in as far as handling food is concerned. Nearly one-third of the global food produced for human consumption goes into every year (Martin-Rios, Demen-Meier, Gossling, and Cornuz 201). Raising awareness will bring the problems surrounding food waste to a broader audience in the world. The food wasted in the world can feed approximately 830 million people, similar to the number of people living in Sub-Saharan Africa (Gille 36). Raising awareness of the benefits of reducing food waste will influence the decision-making of suppliers and consumers.
In addition, global collaboration and coordination of food waste initiatives can reduce global food waste. The public and private sector organizations and corporations should establish an active fight against food waste by developing, planning, and implementing interventions geared towards efficient use of food as a resource. Organizations should quantify and report on food waste to adhere to a set of reporting requirements put in place. Quantifying the amount of food wasted will inform the process of policymaking, aimed at developing reduction strategies.
In conclusion, the global food waste problem should take a multidisciplinary approach to tackle it. Farmers need to be connected to the markets, while suppliers need new technologies for storage and transportation. Consumers, on the other hand, should change their food-handling and eating habits to reduce food waste. Therefore, all actors involved in food supply chains need to change their behavior, technologies, and management practices to reduce global food waste. Discarded food contributes to global warming through the emission of greenhouse gases. Food waste can also be used to feed the population of people suffering from malnutrition across the world. The global food waste problem can be solved through supporting a vigorous education plan by the regional and international food actors, raising awareness, and developing food waste policies through global collaboration and coordination.