Believe it or not, but food waste is having devastating effects on the environment, and the sad truth is that most food waste is preventable.
According to research by The Australian Institute, food waste continues to be a huge issue in Australia, and it will take significant government action and all Australians participating before this massive issue can be turned around.
To combat this wasteful culture, Australian food expert Dinh Tran, has started a global campaign called the “Save Food Movement”. She says that currently one-third of all food produced around the world is wasted globally – which is equivalent to 1.3 billion tonnes of wasted edible food. If only 25% of this waste was saved globally, the chronically hungry (870 million people) could be fed, as per 2011 figures from The Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations.
Further to this, Australians throw out $8 billion worth of edible food every year, which is equivalent to 4 million tonnes of food thrown out (33% of which is fresh food). “The mission of the ‘Save Food Movement’ is to inspire people to consciously save food, which reduces food waste and protects our environment,” says Tran.
“We need to act now, not later, as when food rots in landfill, it produces methane, which is 25 times more lethal than carbon pollution,” says Tran. In fact, according to current trends, food wastage volumes are likely to further increase based on two key factors – rising incomes and declining household sizes (both of which typically lead to more food being wasted). At the same time, we are also seeing projections of significant population growth, which will further exacerbate the problem.
“For every new enduring food saving habit that we can inspire in each Australian, there will be an amazing positive knock-on effect for our environment and for all people around the world,” says Tran.
