10 food waste facts

1. Over 1/3 of all food produced globally goes to waste.

2. The annual value of food wasted globally is $1 trillion, and it weighs 1.3 billion tonnes.

3. All the world’s nearly one billion hungry people could be fed on less than a quarter of the food that is wasted in the US, UK and Europe.

4. An area larger than China is used to grow food that is never eaten.

5. 25% of the world’s fresh water supply is used to grow food that is never eaten.

6. If food waste were a country it would be the 3rd largest emitter of greenhouse gases (after China & the USA).

7. In most developed countries, over half of all food waste takes place in the home.

8. Meanwhile, food waste at the retail store level is less than 2% of total food waste (though supermarket practices are directly responsible for much food waste elsewhere in the supply chain.)

9. In the home food waste is worth £800 per year to the average UK family ($2,275 in the USA), which collectively adds up to £15 billion per year.

10. 2.3 billion people are joining the planet by 2050 – this will require a 60-70% increase in global food production. Or we can just stop throwing away our food!