{"id":2913,"date":"2017-08-31T10:36:00","date_gmt":"2017-08-31T09:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ldc.com\/co\/stories-insights\/curbing-food-waste\/"},"modified":"2025-12-08T11:39:14","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T10:39:14","slug":"curbing-food-waste","status":"publish","type":"stories-insight","link":"https:\/\/www.ldc.com\/co\/en\/stories-insights\/curbing-food-waste\/","title":{"rendered":"The Fight Against Food Waste"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

From the food that spoils in the fridge to the harvests that rot in the fields, the world is losing too much food. Every year, more than 1.3 billion tons of all food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted. At the same time, nearly a billion people go hungry, even as the world population is set to reach 9 billion by 2050, from 7 billion at present. If left unaddressed, this problem will get worse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What causes food waste?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In the developed world, consumption patterns are a large contributor. Food is lost at the retail stage<\/a>, where many stores have strict quality standards that include appearance. They dispose of \u2018ugly\u2019 food. And yes, back at home, food is wasted when the toddler screams for chocolate instead of pur\u00e9ed spinach, which ends up in the bin. Dinner plates are scraped into the trash, and leftovers in the office fridge are left forgotten for days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elsewhere, food is often wasted through poor transport, storage, processing and packaging. Sometimes the facilities simply don\u2019t have the capacity to process or store large amounts of food<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, small, independent farmers grow large proportions of the food in many supply chains in developing countries. It\u2019s difficult for them to predict and prepare for weather conditions and market fluctuations when planting crops. To be safe, farms end up harvesting more crops than necessary. Without support from larger organizations, they are unable to access the markets for their produce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In summary, food wastage can happen at various stages along the supply chain: from initial production through to processing, retailing, and household consumption. The loss may be accidental or intentional, but ultimately it means less food available for all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) defines food waste as the decrease of food in subsequent stages of the supply chain. In other words, food intended for our consumption is going to waste.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some Key Facts<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The global food waste statistics<\/a> are staggering\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n