Changing the story of food loss and waste

We live in a world where there’s enough food to feed all people everywhere; yet 690 million go hungry and another three billion people cannot afford a healthy diet. At the core of this conundrum lies the issue of food loss and waste, which the UN has brought to the forefront by designating 29 September 2020 as the first International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste.

The inaugural observance is celebrated across the world with many events. In New York, the FAO Liaison Office with the UN, with UN Environment Programme and the Permanent Missions of Andorra and San Marino, co-organized a virtual celebration focused on Changing the Story of Food Loss and Waste. The event included a screening of the documentary Wasted! The Story of Food Waste, featuring food celebrities Anthony Bourdain, Dan Barber and Massimo Bottura.

“Food loss and waste is an ethical outrage,” said António Guterres, UN Secretary-General, in his video message that raised the curtain for the event. Guterres urged governments to step up their efforts in ensuring that food waste is reduced by half, and sustainable consumption and production patterns prevail worldwide by 2030, as stated in the Sustainable Development Goal 12.3.

Along the same line, Elisenda Vives Balmaña, Permanent Representative of the Principality of Andorra to the UN, noted that the issue of food loss and waste needs to be addressed as a multidimensional, cross-cutting, diverse and global challenge, as it encompasses “a wide range of perspectives.”

In 2019, Andorra and San Marino introduced the resolution for an international food loss and waste day, with the support of Argentina, FAO and UN Environment Programme. The resolution was very well received, with 60 co-sponsor countries showing an interest in the topic. As Damiano Beleffi, Permanent Representative of the Republic of San Marino to the UN, pointed out, governments recognize that “hunger is not only linked to lack of food”. Today nearly 14% of all food produced each year is squandered or spoiled before it can be consumed.

Máximo Torero, FAO Chief Economist, referred to the International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste as an “an opportunity to make a global wake-up call on the need to transform and rebalance the way our food is produced, consumed, lost and wasted.” Torero went on to say that, in the era of COVID-19, reducing food loss and waste constitutes “an ethical imperative”.

Satya Tripathi, UN Assistant Secretary-General and Head of New York Office at UN Environment Programme, offered the environmental point of view, remarking that “When food is wasted, all the resources that were used to produce this food  –including water, land, energy, labor and capital– also go to waste.” Tripathi further explained how the disposal of food loss and waste in landfills leads to greenhouse gas emissions, thereby contributing to climate change.

“Our food systems are failing us, with nutrition costing the world 3,5 trillion USD annually,” emphasized Sara Farley, Managing Director of Integrated Operations at the Rockefeller Foundation. Farley reiterated that these challenges are essentially systemic and that it’s important to “continue the good fight, contending with food loss and waste within the context of the pandemic.”

Following opening remarks, the Wasted! The Story of Food Waste documentary was introduced by one of the co-directors, Nari Kye, who explained that the inspiration behind making the film was to empower viewers by showing them how they can make a difference and change the world for the better. Wasted! has won many accolades, including a Primetime Emmy.

The film made an impression on the panellists who engaged in a lively discussion after the screening. Lía Celi, Sustainability Manager at Intercorp Retail hailed the role of education –from teaching kids at schools to informing clients in the supermarkets– as a tool to reduce food loss and waste.

“Ours is the first generation to face both food excess and food insecurity. We must act now to make sure that we are also the last!” said Radhika Khandelwal, chef and partner at Radish Hospitality, and member of the Chef Manifesto. Radhika suggested working diligently and proactively, both as individuals and collectively, to solidify vulnerable food systems.

For individuals, this practically means changing consumer behaviour when choosing, buying, storing and cooking our food. For policymakers, results can come about faster through multilateral action, such as establishing communities of good practices, and formulating comprehensive policies that will make achieving and tracking progress easier.

The concerns of farmers and youth in agriculture were voiced in the event by Iyeshima Harris, who is a farmer, youth activist and Project Director at East New York Farms. Harris observed that produce needs to be culturally relevant, so as to reflect the ethnic makeup of a community.

Food Banks are another integral part of the food system because they promote the transition from a linear to a circular economy. Angela Frigo, Secretary-General at the European Food Banks Federation, explained how European food banks continue to run amidst the COVID-19 pandemic while experiencing a growing food demand of 30% at European level. “This is a new poverty,” said Frigo, “people who have lost their job due to COVID-19, families with children who relied mainly on school meals, and elderly people living alone.”

The panel was moderated by Danielle Nierenberg, President and Co-founder of Food Tank, who signalled that food loss and waste is “one of the greatest environmental and agricultural problems of our time”. However, she also indicated that there are already many low-cost and high-impact solutions available to ensure that perfectly good food gets to people who need it the most.

The event concluded with a statement by Carla Mucavi, Director of the FAO Liaison Office in New York, who encouraged participants to “rekindle our relationship with food”. She remarked that understanding and respecting the food we eat, implies respecting the people and the planet.

You can view the webcast (part I, part II) and find out more information about the event is available here. 
Find out more about FAO celebrations for the inaugural International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste.