Moving Towards an Environmentally Sustainable Food Sector Through Mitigation of Food Losses and Wastage-A Possibilitarian’s Approach

One in nine people in the world do not have sufficient food to lead a healthy life. But at the same time, 1/3rd of all the food produced in the world, does so only to get lost (Food Loss) or wasted (Food Waste). Food loss (FL) mostly happens due to reasons beyond the direct control of the actor, e.g., uncertainty of weather, market fluctuations, inadequate storage facilities, low levels of post harvest technology etc. On the other hand, food waste (FW) is a waste ofperfectly edible food by choice or negligence (left to spoil or expire) on the part of the actor ^[1] in retail, food service units and household of the consumer. FW includes intentional discarding of food due to poor shopping patterns, or when retailers reject ugly but perfectly edible produce, or food discarded by hotels wh en the production exceeds the demand. The quantum of food loss and waste (FLW) does not reflect the fact that large amounts of water for irrigation, land for planting, energy for harvest, transportation and processing, agricultural and animal husbandry inputs and efforts of our brothers and sisters at the farm, as well as in the production and supply chain of the food we eat, simply ends up as waste. To exemplify, let us consider just one input “water ” th at has gone into each unit of edible material sitting in the consumer’s refrigerator, and is likely to expire or go stale. If we throw a glass ofstale milk, the 255 litres of water that have gone into its production and delivery to us, also go waste. When we discard 250 gm of stale bread (due to excessive purchase and poor meal planning), we are discarding 402 L of water that went into its production from farm to fork ^[2]. Similarly, it wastes all the other inputs (like use of land, fertilisers, energy, manpower etc.) that have gone into the production of that food item. Further, the wasted food also emits tonnes of greenhouse gases. This accounts for our larger than necessary Food Eco-Footprin t. It has even been said that iffood waste was a country, it would be the third largest emitting country in the world-that’s the extent of damage it causes to the environment. Regardless of our purchasing power or development status of our countries, there is a strong environmental, financial, social and ethical rationale to save FLW. This concept paper elaborates on the scenario, the problem at hand and also suggests a possibilitarian’s approach to combat the same through a strategic framework for mitigation of FLW and the smart society’s FLW pyramid.

Abbreviations: FL-Food Loss, FW-Food Waste, FLW-Food Loss and Waste, FAO-Food and Agriculture Organisation

Definitions

1. Food Loss- The food that we lose due to reasons beyond the control of the doer from harvest till (but not including) food retail.

2. Food Waste-The food that we lose due to the decision or inaction or negligence of the doer at food retail and beyond. For the understanding of the reader, it needs to be emphasised that ‘food waste’ is actually wasted food. The emphasis is that this is food, not waste-a distinction that is particularly important in context of food recovery programs. No one wants to eat waste! ^[3].

3. Sustainability-The ability to endure, for example by exploiting resources in a way that does not deplete their future availability or unduly damage the wider environment. This concept has been incorporated in the idea of sustainable development.

4. Ecological Footprint -Ecological footprint is a measure of how fast we consume natural resources and generate waste ^[5].

5. Food Eco Footprint -Food Eco-footprint is a measure of how fast we consume natural resources and generate waste while fulfilling our need for food.

“First bread, and then religion ”-Swami Vivekananda