Food Waste Action Week 2021

In 2020 was published the report “Global Food Losses and Food Waste” by The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) where is estimated that roughly 33% (almost 1,3 billion tons) of all food produced for human consumption in the world is lost or wasted, carrying out a real impact on climate change, contributing to 8-10 % of total man-made greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

At least, just in the European Union different studies estimated that more than 88 million tons of food waste are produced each year with a range in some cities between 173 and 179 Kg per capita. This amount of food lost or wasted have been related to a hucage impact in the environment because it has a very large ecological footprint for all resources that need for crop, process and distribute (water, energy, soil, nutrients or chemicals) are used in vain, representing a high cost to society with more than USD 750 billon only in agricultural products (excluding fish and seafood).     

Promote sustainable lifestyles have a direct impact in food lost and wasted, the environment, economy and society, for this reason Food Waste Action Week dedicate a whole week of action to raising to awareness of the environmental consequences of wasting food, and encouraging activities that help to reduce the amount of food waste. Some studies suggest that fostering and communicating sustainable lifestyles intentionally links the human behavior and how it interact with culture, infrastructure and institutions.

An effective sustainable lifestyle campaign or communication plan like Food Waste Action Week 2021 increase understanding of the environment, stimulate behavior change, reframe goals and priorities and create new social norms and values, giving more interest around the issue of food waste because lack of motivation and funding to invest in its prevention are one the most important challenges to overcome.