Food Wastage
While some people throw away food by the tonne, others go hungry.
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Dossier index
While some people throw away food by the tonne, others go hungry.
The yoghurt has gone off, the salami is no longer tasty, the bananas have got darker and the plums have gone bad. Throw them away! Anything that no longer looks wholly appetizing quickly finds its way to the trash.
In Germany alone, an estimated two million tonnes of food end up in the bin every year – even though they are often still edible and would have been used elsewhere. According to reports by the UN’s World Food Organization, around 920 million people are going hungry worldwide. Around a third of them are children.
100 euros down the drain
Every citizen throws up to 240 kg of food away each year, according to scientists from the Institute for Waste Management at the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences in Vienna (BOKU Wien). And this costs money: Around 100 euros are thrown away each year by every private household in Europe. Even groceries that are still in their original packaging find their way literally from the supermarket straight to the bin.
The British top the list of wasters. According to a study by the British Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP), they throw away almost 20 per cent of the food they buy, even though it is still edible. In Austria, that figure rises to twelve per cent.
Dairy products are most likely to end up in the bin (15 per cent), followed by vegetables and bread (13 per cent) and meat (12 per cent) and ready meals (9 per cent).
Industry too is wasteful
The story is no different in supermarkets and bakeries: bread is baked right up until shops close – and must then be disposed of. In Vienna for example, as much bread is thrown away each day as is consumed in the city of Graz.
Every supermarket throws an average of 45 kg of food away each day because it can no longer be sold. The food is bruised, the best before date is drawing near, the product range has been discontinued or the packaging has been damaged. Fruit and vegetables are the main victims, followed by eggs, cheese and meat products. Experts are of the opinion that at least a quarter of this food that is thrown away is still edible.
While the mountains of waste continue to grow, the poor can barely afford to buy basic foodstuff. In the UK, for example, those on a low income had to spend around 15 per cent of their household income on food the year before last. In contrast, according to the Guardian newspaper, the figure was only seven per cent for rich families.
Stop throwing food away!
What can we do to stop this carelessness with food? Can the EU help? We want you to help us consider what might be changed.
Take part in the discussion at www.euranet.eu
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by Joe Noory
17.12.2009
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