UN talks about “global tragedy”: One billion edible meals are thrown away every day

class = “sc-cffd1e67-0 iQNQmc”>

According to the United Nations, approximately one billion meals that are still edible are thrown away every day. More than a billion tonnes of food were thrown away in 2022, mostly from private households, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) announced on Wednesday. The real number is probably much higher. UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen spoke of a “global tragedy”: food is being thrown away while millions of people around the world starve.

As the report also shows, private households alone were responsible for 631 million tonnes of food loss, accounting for over 60 percent. 28 percent of waste was generated by restaurants, canteens and other services, while 12 percent was generated by supermarkets, butchers and other specialized stores. This equates to a total of over $1 trillion worth of food in 2022.

big environmental problem

Richard Swannell, from WRAP, a non-governmental organization involved in preparing the UN report, said the figures were “staggering”. With the food thrown away alone, “all the hungry people in the world”, whose number reached 800 million, could be fed with one meal a day. The problem is often that people buy too much and don’t use what’s left.

Additionally, too much food, despite being edible, is thrown away as soon as it expires. The report emphasized that food is often thrown away due to inadequate refrigeration options, especially in developing and emerging countries. Finally, it is often “cheaper and faster” for companies to destroy and regenerate food than to invest in sustainable alternatives.

The report emphasized that waste affects approximately one-fifth of the total food available in the world. This causes a huge environmental problem, as food waste causes five times more greenhouse gas emissions than aviation. In addition, huge agricultural areas are needed to grow crops that are never eaten. (AFP)

Source :Blick