CLIMATE AND STARVATION

Half of world's food is wasted - report

Friday Jan 11, 2013

Half the food purchased in Europe and America is
thrown away after it is bought.  Photo / The Aucklander

As much as half of all the food produced in the world - two billion tonnes worth - ends up being thrown away, a new UK-based report claims.

The waste is caused by poor infrastructure and storage facilities, over-strict sell-by dates, "get-one-free'' offers, and consumer fussiness, according to the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.

Each year countries around the world produce some four billion tonnes of food.

But between 30 per cent and 50 per cent of this total, amounting to 1.2 to two billion tonnes, never gets eaten, says the report Global Food; Waste Not, Want Not.

In the UK, up to 30 per cent of vegetable crops are not harvested because their physical appearance fails to meet the exacting demands of consumers.

Half the food purchased in Europe and the US is thrown away after it is bought, the report adds.

Vast quantities of water are also wasted in global food production, it is claimed.

Around 550 billion cubic metres of water is used to grow crops that never reach the consumer, according to the report.

Producing one kilogram of meat is also said to take 20 to 50 times more water than producing the same weight of vegetables.

The demand for water in food production could reach 10 to 13 trillion cubic metres a year by 2050, the institution said.

The New Zealand Tour Commentary

This is up to 3.5 times greater than the total amount of fresh water used by humans today, raising the spectre of dangerous water shortages.

Dr Tim Fox, head of energy and environment at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, said: "The amount of food wasted and lost around the world is staggering. This is food that could be used to feed the world's growing population - as well as those in hunger today. It is also an unnecessary waste of the land, water and energy resources that were used in the production, processing and distribution of this food.

"The reasons for this situation range from poor engineering and agricultural practices, inadequate transport and storage infrastructure through to supermarkets demanding cosmetically perfect foodstuffs and encouraging consumers to overbuy through buy-one-get-one free offers."

By 2075 the United Nations predicts that the world's population will reach around 9.5 billion, resulting in an extra three billion mouths to feed.

Added stresses on the ability of the world to feed itself include global warming and the growing popularity of meat, which requires around 10 times more resources than staple plant foods such as rice or potatoes . . . .

Full story: NZ Herald

Peter’s Piece

This story started on a good note with a plea for less wasted food and a need to feed more hungry mouths.

Governments and businesses around the world must accept responsibility for the starving millions of innocent children who did not ask to be born into poverty.

But then the story worked its way around to a predictable statement about the effect of global warming for future populations. And that is where, from my perspective, the good story started to loose credibility.

As the world climate warms, if it warms, the world will be capable of producing more food rather than less. A warming climate will also enable more people to occupy the lands of the world while using less energy per person.

A warming climate will mean that more people will be able to enjoy a better standard of living, a condition that has been steadily improving since man emerged from the cave.