Wednesday, September 11, 2013

One-Third of Food Wasted

So the world isn't maxed out on the number of people it can feed...

From Fox New York:

The U.N. food agency says one-third of all food produced in the world gets wasted, amounting to a loss of $750 billion a year. 
The Rome-based Food and Agricultural Organization said in a report Wednesday that food in developing countries is wasted mostly due to poor harvesting techniques, while in high-income areas the primary cause of waste is careless consumer behavior. 
... Wastage of cereals in Asia is a significant problem, according to the report, with major impacts on carbon emissions and water and land use. Rice's profile is particularly noticeable, given its high methane emissions combined with a large level of wastage. 
FAO stressed the importance of raising awareness among consumers. 
It says that consumers fail to plan their shopping, overpurchase, or over-react to "best-before-dates," while quality and aesthetic standards lead retailers to reject large amounts of perfectly edible food.
I would note that the "best-before-dates" and quality and aesthetic standards are mostly the result of government regulations.

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