Food waste or food loss is food that is discarded or lost uneaten. The causes of food waste or loss are numerous, and occur at the stages of production, processing, retailing and consumption.
As of 2013, half of all food is wasted worldwide, according to the British Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IME).[1] Loss and wastage occurs at all stages of the food supply chain or value chain. In low-income countries, most loss occurs during production, while in developed countries much food – about 100 kilograms (220 lb) per person per year – is wasted at the consumption stage.
The definition of waste is a contentious subject, often defined on a situational basis; this also applies to food waste.[3] Professional bodies, including international organizations, state governments and secretariats may use their own definitions.[4]
Definitions of food waste vary, among other things, in what food waste consists of,[5] how it is produced,[6] and where or what it is discarded from or generated by.[5] Definitions also vary because certain groups do not consider (or have traditionally not considered) food waste to be a waste material, due to its applications.[7][8] Some definitions of what food waste consists of are based on other waste definitions (e.g. agricultural waste) and which materials do not meet their definitions.
A 2011 study by the Swedish Institute for Food and Biotechnology (SIK) on behalf of Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Global Food Losses and Food Waste, distinguishes between "food loss" and "food waste", and provides figures for both:
Food loss measures the decrease in edible food mass (excluding inedible parts and seed) "throughout the part of the supply chain that specifically leads to edible food for human consumption", that is, loss at the production, postharvest and processing stages. This definition of loss includes biomass originally meant for human consumption but eventually used for some other purpose, such as fuel or animal feed.
Food waste is food loss occurring during the retail and final consumption stages due to the behavior of retailers and consumers[10] – that is, the throwing away of food.
In the European Union, food waste was defined as "any food substance, raw or cooked, which is discarded, or intended or required to be discarded" since 1975 until 2000 when the old directive was repealed by Directive 2008/98/EC, which has no specific definition of food waste.[11][12][12] The directive, 75/442/EEC, containing this definition was amended in 1991 (91/156) with the addition of "categories of waste" (Annex I) and the omission of any reference to national law
The United States Environmental Protection Agency defines food waste for the United States as "uneaten food and food preparation wastes from residences and commercial establishments such as grocery stores, restaurants, and produce stands, institutional cafeterias and kitchens, and industrial sources like employee lunchrooms".[6] The states remain free to define food waste differently for their purposes,[7][14] though many choose not to
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.[15] In subsistence agriculture, the amounts of food waste are unknown, but are likely to be insignificant by comparison, due to the limited stages at which waste can occur, and given that food is grown for projected need as opposed to a global marketplace demand.[16][17] Nevertheless, on-farm losses in storage in developing countries, particularly in African countries, 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.[15] From planting, crops can be subjected to pest infestations and severe weather,[18][19] which cause losses before harvest.[15] Since natural forces (e.g. temperature and precipitation) remain the primary drivers of crop growth, losses from these can be experienced by all forms of outdoor agriculture.[20] The use of machinery in harvesting can cause waste, as harvesters may be unable to discern between ripe and immature crops, or collect only part of a crop.[15] Economic factors, such as regulations and standards for quality and appearance,[21] also cause food waste; farmers often harvest selectively, preferring to leave crops not to standard in the field (where they can be used as fertilizer or animal feed), since they would otherwise be discarded later.
Food waste continues in the post-harvest stage, but the amounts of post-harvest loss involved are relatively unknown and difficult to estimate.[22] Regardless, the variety of factors that contribute to food waste, both biological/environmental and socio-economical, would limit the usefulness and reliability of gen
