Half of the world’s food is wasted

A report from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Global Food: Waste Not, Want Not , has found that as much as half of all the food produced in the world – two billion tonnes – is wasted. This is mainly caused by poor storage facilities, over-strict sell by dates, “get-one-free” offers and consumer fussiness. As water resources become more scarce, the report also highlights how around 550 billion cubic metres of water is used to grow crops which never reach consumers. In addition, it takes 20 to 50 times more water to produce one kilogram of meat than to produce the same weight of vegetables. The Institution of Mechanical Engineers’ Head of energy and environment Tim Fox, said: “The amount of food wasted and lost around the world is staggering. This is food that could be used to feed the world’s growing population – as well as those in hunger today. It is also an unnecessary waste of the land, water and energy resources that were used in the production, processing and distribution of this food.” The report concludes that governments and organisations such as the UN should work together to help discourage wasteful practices and that “improvements must be made at all stages in the chain of production, distribution and storage, from the producer/farmer right into the consumer’s home”.