The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has unveiled a comprehensive platform to aid global reduction of food loss and waste.
The platform ‘Technical Platform on the Measurement and Reduction of Food Loss and Waste’ will be officially launched on the first International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste on 29 September, 2020.
Objective: It brings together information on measurement, reduction, policies, alliances, actions and examples of successful models applied to reduce food loss and waste across the globe.
Difference between food wastage and food losses: Food is wasted when it is discarded by consumers or is disposed of in retail due to its inability to meet quality standards. Food loss, on the other hand, occurs when it is spoilt or spilled before reaching the final product or retail stage.
–Food loss is the decrease in the quantity or quality of food resulting from decisions and actions by food suppliers in the chain, excluding retailers, food service providers and consumers. For example, dairy, meat, and fish can deteriorate in transit because of inadequate refrigerated transport and cold storage facilities.
-Food waste refers to the decrease in the quantity or quality of food resulting from decisions and actions by retailers, food service providers and consumers. Food that never gets eaten represents a waste of resources, such as labor, land, water, soil and seeds, and it increases greenhouse gas emissions in vain.
-FAO estimates that 14 percent of food is lost this way, valued at US$400 billion annually.
-In terms of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the food that is lost is associated with around 1.5 Gt of CO2 equivalent.
-Nutritious foods are the most perishable, and hence, the most vulnerable to loss. Not only food is being lost but also food safety and nutrition are being lost as well.
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