Each year,  around 1.3 billion tons  or  1/3 of all the food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted. [2] Global food loss and waste generate annually 4.4 Gigatons CO₂ or account for  8% of global greenhouse gas emission (GHGs). If food wastage were a country, it would be the third largest emitting country in the world. (Figure 1)

Figure 1 : Total GHGs Emissions (Gigatons) 2011 [3]

Moreover, OLIO mentioned that  33-50% of all food produced globally is never eaten and the value of this wasted food is worth over $1 trillion / year. That means resources —seeds, water, energy, land, fertilizer, human labor, financial capital— used and GHGs  emitted in producing it were unnecessary. [4]

Hawken, P. (2017) concluded that reducing food waste is the third most effective solution among the 100 most powerful and immediately implementable solutions to fight climate change and reduce GHGs  emissions, particularly potent methane gas (CH₄). It can reduce CO₂ around 87.45–94.56 Gigatons in 2020-2050. (Table 1)

Table 1 : Solutions for reducing greenhouse gases emission. [5]

Food waste are the big issues in both developing & developed countries. In developing or low income economy, food waste is generally unintentional and occurs earlier in the supply chain—food rots on farms or spoils during storage or logistic distribution. In contrast, in developed or  high income economy, Half of all food waste comes from household. Food waste dominates farther along the supply chain. It came from supermarkets, retailers and consumers reject food based on bumps, bruises, and coloring, or simply order, buy, and serve too much. [5]

It can be concluded that no matter who you are, producer, distributor or consumer, everyone wastes food. Saving food is our responsibility, and there are lots of small things we can all do in our daily life to make a big change to our world.  The easy quote that we should start to do is   “Eat what you buy and buy what you really need”

References :

[1] Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations. Seeking end to loss and waste of food along production chain.

http://www.fao.org/in-action/seeking-end-to-loss-and-waste-of-food-along-production-chain/en/

[2] Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations. Food wastage footprint & Climate Change.

http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/templates/nr/sustainability_pathways/docs/FWF_and_climate_change.pdf

[3] World Resources Institute (Indonesia). Food Loss and Waste Were its own Country, it Would Be the Third-Largest Greenhouse Gas Emitter.

https://wri-indonesia.org/en/resources/data-visualizations/if-food-loss-and-waste-were-its-own-country-it-would-be-third-largest 

[4] Olio. The Problem of Food Waste.

https://olioex.com/food-waste/the-problem-of-food-waste/#:~:text=Between%2033%2D50%25%20of%20all,1.3%25%20of%20the%20total%20GDP.

[5] Hawken, P. (2017). Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming.

https://www.drawdown.org/solutions/table-of-solutions