Reduce Food Waste: The High Cost of Wasted Food and How to Help

The world’s economy is now producing more food and making a greater profit than ever before. With this in mind, you could be forgiven for thinking that starving people just no longer exist. However, across the world, we’re wasting more food than at any time in history.

The cost is not only financial. The impact on humans, animals and the planet itself is astonishing.

The UK wastes the equivalent of 1.3 billion meals every year
YET, 590,000 people in the UK used food banks in 2016/17
£10 billion worth of food thrown away by households each year
BUT, 60% of people believe they never waste food

A little goes a long way when it comes to cutting down on food waste. For example, the UK’s 19 million families currently throw away 24 million slices of bread every day. By utilizing the whole loaf, we’ll be making a massive difference.

“Developed countries across the globe

contribute to a huge amount of wastage and

while it’s tempting to blame the food industry

and major corporations, research shows

that the majority of food waste is

attributable to households.”

The UK isn’t alone in wasting food however. Developed countries across the globe contribute to a huge amount of wastage and while it’s tempting to blame the food industry and major corporations, research shows that the majority of food waste is attributable to households.

In order to feed the 9 billion people that are expected to live on the planet by 2050, we need to double our food production as told to us by many international organizations. But that will have devastating consequences for the goals of reducing carbon dioxide emissions which in turn will impact the climate and deforestation of the earth.

Perhaps the biggest challenge is how we deal with the problem of over-consumption in rich countries and food waste. The food system needs to operate in a way that gives all people access to healthy food without destroying the earth.

“The global economy is producing more food

than ever, yet an incredible 1/3 is being wasted.

This is at a time when 7 million people are dying from

malnutrition every year, and rich countries such as the

US and UK have had to introduce food banks.”

Food Recovery Organizations Working to Reduce Food Waste Worldwide

Here are 50+ food recovery organizations that are working to meet these national and international goals and reduce food waste globally. Learn more about their efforts on their websites. Then you can choose the ones that resonate with you–and get involved to help make a difference. Simply click on the titles below:

412 Food Rescue: (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States)

Amp Your Good: (United States)

Boston Area Gleaners: (Boston, Massachusetts, United States)

Boulder Food Rescue: (Boulder, Colorado, United States)

Caritas: (Vatican City, Italy)

Center for a Livable Future: (Baltimore, Maryland, United States)

City Harvest: (New York, New York, United States)

Community Food Rescue: (Montgomery County, Maryland, United States)

Community Plates: (Norwalk, Connecticut, United States)

Copia: (San Francisco, California, United States)

Culinary Misfits: (Berlin, Germany)

DC Central Kitchen: (District of Columbia, United States)

EU-FUSIONS: (Europe) Food Use for Social Innovation by Optimizing Waste Prevention Strategies (FUSIONS)

ExtraFood: (San Rafael, California, United States)

Feedback: (London, England)

Food Cowboy: (Bethesda, Maryland, United States)

Food Cycle: (London, England)

Food Forward: (Los Angeles and Ventura, California, United States)

FoodLoop: (Cologne, Germany)

Food Policy Action: (Washington D.C, United States)

Food Recovery Network: (College Park, Maryland, United States)

Food Recovery Project: (Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States)

Food Rescue: (Carmel, Indiana, United States)

FoodSave London: (London, England)

Food Share: (Bloomfield, Connecticut, United States)

Food Shift: (Oakland, California, United States)

Food Surplus Entrepreneurs Network: (Europe)

Food Waste Reduction Alliance: (District of Columbia, United States)

Forgotten Harvest: (Detroit, Michigan, United States)

Hands for Hunger: (Nassau, Bahamas)

Harvard Food Law and Policy Clinic (FLPC)

Hungry Harvest: (Maryland, United States)

Imperfect Produce: (Emeryville, California, United States)

Iskashitaa Refugee Network: (Tucson, Arizona, United States)

Island Grown Gleaning: (Vineyard Haven, Massachusetts, United States)

L.A. Kitchen: (Los Angeles, California, United States)

Last Minute Market: (Bologna, Italy)

Lean Path: (Portland, Oregon, United States)

Love Food Hate Waste: (Banbury, England)

Lovin’ Spoonfuls: (Boston, Massachusetts, United States)

Markets Institute, WWF: (Washington, D.C., United States)

Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)

OzHarvest: (Sydney, Australia)

Produce to the People: (Tasmania, Australia)

ReFED: (United States)

Salvation Farms: (Morrisville, Vermont, United States)

Satisfeito: (São Paulo, Brazil)

Save Food Asia-Pacific: (Asia)

Save Food from the Fridge: (Torino, Italy)

Second Bite: (Melbourne, Australia)

Society of Saint Andrew: (Big Island, Virginia, United States)

Stop Wasting Food: (Copenhagen, Denmark)

The Garden of Eating (Niagara Falls, Canada)

Think.Eat.Save: (Geneva, Switzerland)

World Resources Institute (WRI): (Washington, D.C., United States)

World Vegetable Center: (Tainan City, Taiwan)

Zero Percent: (Chicago, Illinois, United States)

Food Waste: The Ugly Facts – Infographic

In the infographic below, Financial experts Money Guru take a look at some of the ugly statistics that prove we are currently heading in the wrong direction.