When we throw our food into the bin we don’t see the harmful greenhouse gases it is going to release in the landfill.
We also don’t see the fuel and resources that went into producing the food or see the people around the world who are hungry. All we see is an apple in the bin.
There are other costs to food waste.
Inspired by the Love Food Hate Waste campaign in the UK, we undertook some research to find out if household food waste was a problem in Aotearoa. Turns out food waste is a problem, with the average Kiwi family throwing away three shopping trolleys of edible food each year.
When food ends up in landfill, it decomposes without oxygen, and as a result, it releases methane, a harmful greenhouse gas.
If food waste was a country, it would be the third largest producer of carbon emissions behind China and the United States.
The more food that we waste, the more food we need to produce. This constant need to produce more puts additional pressure on the environment.
For example, 25 million acres of land are deforested each year in order to grow food. This is happening despite the fact that we are actually producing enough food to feed the world.
Food is wasted at all stages of the supply chain – from the farm to the fork. In developing countries, most of these losses occur in the early stages such as production and transportation. In developed countries, most food wastage occurs by consumers after purchase.
When we waste food, all of the resources that went into growing and making it go to waste.
Isn’t it appalling to think that we waste food when one in five children in New Zealand suffer moderate to sever food insecurity!
While hunger is a problem that's hard to fix, we owe it to those who are starving to respect the food that we have access to.
Love Food Hate Waste is aiming to reduce the amount of food that New Zealand households are throwing away.
In addition to our efforts, there are many different things happening around the world to reduce food waste.