Measures to Prevent Food Waste

ECONOMICAL AND SOCIAL COUNCIL (ECOSOC)

Topic 2

MEASURES TO PREVENT FOOD WASTE

REPORT RESEARCH

by Rebecca Aspetti

INDEX:

I. DEFINITION OF KEY TERMS Measures: A plan or course of action taken to achieve a particular purpose, a procedure, initiative, programme, operation.

To prevent: Stopping (someone) from doing something or keep (something) from happening.

Food waste: Food loss occurring during the retail and final consumption stages due to the behavior of retailers and consumers – that is, the throwing away of food.

FAO: Food and Agriculture Organization. It has three goals: Eradication of hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition, sustainable management and utilization of natural resources. It also works in partnership with the IFRC (Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent societies) to assist poor households cope with threats and disasters that impact agriculture, food security and nutrition.

WFP: The World Food Programme is the food assistance branch of the United Nations and the world's largest humanitarian organization addressing hunger and promoting food security. On average, the WFP provides food to 90 million people per year, of whom 58 million are children.

Consumption: The using up of goods and services by consumer purchasing or in the production of other goods.

IFAD: The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is a specialized agency of the United Nations dedicated to eradicating rural poverty in developing countries. It was established as an international financial institution in 1977 as one of the major outcomes of the 1974 World Food Conference. Seventy-five percent of the world's poor live in rural areas in developing countries, yet only 4% of official development assistance goes to agriculture. Crop: A crop is any cultivated plant, fungus, or alga that is harvested for food, clothing, livestock fodder, bio fuel, medicine, or other uses.

Measures to prevent food waste – Definition of Key Terms Seite 1 II. INTRODUCTION Food waste or food loss is food that is discarded or cannot be used, the causes or loss are numerous, and occur at the stages of production, processing, retailing and consumption. In developing and developed countries which operate either commercial or industrial agriculture, food waste can occur at most stages of the food industry and in significant amounts. It is also known that on-farm losses in storage in developing countries, particularly in African countries, food waste can be high although the exact nature of such losses is much debated. Research into the food industry of the United States, whose food supply is the most diverse and abundant of any country in the world, found food waste occurring at the beginning of food production. The planting can also be subjected to pest infestations and severe weather, which are responsible of damaging the crops.

III. BACKGROUND INFORMATION A large part of avoidable food losses, and thus food wasted, occurs outside of the consumer´s influence: during harvest, transport, processing or on the shelves of supermarkets. At each stage, food waste could be significantly reduced.

More investments and associated reductions in waste would be in the interest of the consumer who is becoming increasingly aware about the outrageous amount of unpriced costs that food waste emits onto society at large.

A shift in consumer consciousness however is not sufficient to bring about change. Food waste is invisible and therewith every product is equally guilty.

Consumer preferences have to be reflected in the supply of products which differentiate themselves on the level of food waste. This would facilitate a reallocation of resources all the way back to the source of the product, incorporating at least part of the indirect costs of food waste.

Measures to prevent food waste – Definition of Key Terms Seite 2 IV. MAJOR COUNTRIES INVOLVED Studies estimated the total of global food loss and waste to around one third of the edible parts of food produced for human consumption, amounting to about 1.3 billion tons per year. As the following table shows, industrialized and developing countries differ substantially. In the latter, more than 40% of losses occur at the postharvest and processing stages, while in the former; more than 40% of losses occur at the retail and consumer levels. The total food waste by consumers in industrialized countries (222 million tons) is almost equal to the entire food production in sub-Saharan Africa (230 million tons). In the USA studies showed that forty to fifty per cent of all food ready for harvest never gets eaten.

V. UN INVOLVEMENT The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and World Food Programme (WFP) launched the joint project “Mainstreaming food loss reduction initiatives for smallholders in food deficit areas” which is funded by the Swiss Government. The project aims to tackle food losses in grains and pulses value chains in three pilot countries (Burkina Faso, DRC and Uganda), and one of its outcomes is a web-based Food loss reduction Community of Practice. It is also to mention that FAO and Messe Düsseldorf are collaborating with donors, bi- and multi-lateral agencies and financial institutions and private sector partners (the food packaging industry and others) to develop and implement the programme on food loss and waste reduction.

Measures to prevent food waste – Definition of Key Terms Seite 3 VI. RELIABLE USEFUL LINKS http://www.fao.org/save-food/en/ http://www.fao.org/docrep/014/mb060e/mb060e00.pdf http://endhunger.org/food-waste/ http://wordpress.foodwastetransparency.org/?page_id=19 http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=45816#.VLFM4yvF9qU

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