By United Nations resolution, tomorrow, Sept. 29, is officially recognized as an International Day of Awareness on Food Loss and Waste Reduction. The theme for this year’s observance is “Stop food loss and waste. For the people. For the planet.”
Given that between 30 and 40 percent of the world’s food supply goes to waste each year, the issue is a social, moral and even economic one. As the UN wrote:
Actions are required globally and locally to maximize the use of the food we produce. The introduction of technologies, innovative solutions (including e-commerce platforms for marketing, retractable mobile food processing systems), new ways of working and good practices to manage food quality and reduce food loss and waste are key to implementing this transformative change.
Reducing food loss and waste requires the attention and actions of all, from food producers, to food supply chain stakeholders, to food industries, retailers and consumers.
Avid Spoon readers know that food waste and loss is an important area of coverage for us. The more awareness we can create, the better off we all are. To that end, here’s a collection of stories we have written over the past few months about the food waste issue and the companies actively tackling the problem:
- Agtech Platform Silo Raises $9M to Fight Food Waste in the Supply Chain
- What’s the Difference Between Food Waste and Food Loss?
- Fighting Consumer Food Waste at Home Means Rethinking the Refrigerator
- Spoon Plus: The Consumer Food Waste Innovation Report
- Walmart, Tesco, and Other Food Brands Join the Consumer Goods Forum’s Food Waste Coalition
- Phood Fights Food Waste with Scales, Computer Vision and AI
- Clean Crop Technologies Zaps Up $2.75M to Prevent Food Waste and Crop Loss
Reducing food waste and bringing more equity to our food system is going to take a concerted effort across the public and private sectors. But most of all, it will take effort from all of us individually to change our wasteful ways.
