From the field to the bin: the paradox of a planet that produces but does not feed

a considerable waste contrasted with the growing number of people who cannot access adequate nutrition and are at risk of poverty.

FAO data indicate that every year over 400,000 hectares of agricultural land are not harvested, suggesting that this amount of land is left uncultivated. If food waste were a country, it would be the third largest emitter of greenhouse gases, according to the UN.

Food loss and waste result in economic losses of 940 billion dollars per year. Recognizing the scale and urgency of the problem, one of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aims to halve global per capita food waste at the retail and consumer levels and to reduce food losses along production and supply chains by 2030. To achieve this ambitious goal, companies must do their part.

The system we live in pushes us to buy continuously; but due to work activities that do not allow us to shop every day, most people do just one weekly shop. A model based on a mechanism of waste and overproduction and on the rapid clearance of stock to make room for new products on the market. Bread tops the list of household food items we waste the most: almost 900,000 tonnes of bread every year — around 24 million slices a day. Food waste can be reduced by redistributing it to those in need or composting it. 

Science indicates that changing our food preferences by opting for a diet rich in plant-based products would make it possible to feed millions of people while reducing environmental costs. Much less land would be needed for healthy global food production if more agricultural land were used for crops intended for direct human consumption rather than livestock feed.

In the European Union, 71% of agricultural land is used for livestock feeding. The production of feed for livestock is also one of the main causes of deforestation and the destruction of ecosystems.