Obese people waste food. Introducing: Metabolic food waste
We might save the planet, but can we still enjoy food?
Here is the breath-taking paradox: While one billion people in this world don’t have enough food to eat, about a third of our produced food is wasted. A plethora of initiatives are challenging the paradox. Think no waste coach apps for consumers to learn how to use left-overs and buy food more economically. Think food waste cartridges for the 3DbyFlow food printers coming your way. Think, on a more modest scale, the lost fruit initiative by Rosemarijn, to save all the ripe fruit from non-used fruit backyard orchards. All initiatives are calling producers and consumer to fight wasteful behaviour. Cool but not too new anymore. What’s the next step?
“The waste of resources and the unnecessary ecological cost due to an excessive consumption of foods leading to obesity have been ignored so far”
Metabolic Food Waste
What about the food we don’t need to eat? The unhealthy stuff? The obesity-enhancing stuff? That’s a waste of food as well, at least, when we dare to extend our perspective on wasted food several steps further. Italian researchers Toti, Di Mattia and Serafini (2019) did exactly that, taking the food waste discussion to that next new level, by introducing the concept of Metabolic Food Waste. “The waste of resources and the unnecessary ecological cost due to an excessive consumption of foods leading to obesity have been ignored so far”, they say. Their Metabolic Food Waste research determines that we do not only spill 1.3 giga tons of food as waste per year, but an excessive metabolic food waste of another 140.7 giga tons over the years extra! (Do the math: people don’t gain weight just in one year; the waste is generated by too many energy intakes over the years). Europeans, together with Americans are the most obese inhabitants of our planets, contributing the biggest part of Global Metabolic Food Waste.
Obese People Waste Food
Toti, Di Mattia and Serafini (2019)’ established the solid argument that people who suffer from obesity are not only frequently presented as unhealthy, they are also wasting a lot of food by their consumption habits, much more than healthy people do. The researchers conclude: “Reducing metabolic food waste associated with obesity will contribute to reducing the ecological impact of unbalanced dietary patterns through an improvement of human health”.
It’s a line of thought, reasonable and provocative at the same time. But how far can we go with it?
Sports, drinking, eating sweets, all contributes to food waste
What about eating sweets? Sweets are only sugar, and don’t contribute to a vigorous body. So why not call it by its name: a waste of resources. What about alcohol drinking? Alcohol is not a necessity. It is more of a toxic beverage. Which justifies it as another waste of resources. And, now that we think of it, what about all those vineyards? Perhaps the lands that produce grapes can be used more effectively. What about people who do sport? They usually consume more food than an average person because they burn more calories. What about chocolate? Eating chocolate destroys the last rainforests in Ghana. Or coffee…or…?
It’s all fascinating reasoning. With climate change growing for more and more people into our most urgent worldwide problem, it is much more than playfully toying with ideas. An ‘avant-garde’ will take it seriously. A majority will moan, justifiably so: For the planet’s sake, are we allowed to enjoy anything left? But, when climate pressures rise, avant-garde and the majority might meet somewhere?
“We carefully and purposefully choose each ingredient to offer a complete meal in every bottle of Ready-to-Drink Soylent and each scoop of Soylent powder”, the website proclaims.
Its vision: “In a world with a rapidly growing population, and rapidly diminishing resources, we all need access to nutrition that is cost-effective and easy to consume…”
Why is it interesting?
Be prepared for new visions on food and changing food behaviours. One way or the other, the sake of saving our planet will be behind the changes. Think Soylent, world’s most famous food replacer. Soylent is engineered nutrition. “We carefully and purposefully choose each ingredient to offer a complete meal in every bottle of Ready-to-Drink Soylent and each scoop of Soylent powder”, the website proclaims. Its vision: “In a world with a rapidly growing population, and rapidly diminishing resources, we all need access to nutrition that is cost-effective and easy to consume…”.
And utterly eco-sustainable. Soylent fully delivers on it! Also count all developments regarding Quantified Selves devices like Fitbit watches and food tracking apps that help people to monitor, fine-tune and adjust their consumption patterns according to what is important to them. Saving the planet might rise on their list of priorities. Next step it will be incorporated on their monitoring devices.
Holland’s biggest summer festival, Lowlands, this year introduced smart toilets From what was privately produced, the toilet measures your blood pressure, temperature and ion-values. Based on the outcomes it offers personalised food suggestions to you. Next step smart toilets might integrate your metabolic food waste coefficient to its outcomes for you as well. Plus suggestions to improve on that dimension too. For the sake of the planet and your own health.
Not all the above, will be embraced wholeheartedly by us all. Firstly, as often, only an avant-garde of ‘purists’ and ‘fanatics’ will do. But when the tides of climate change rise further, very many more might follow, maybe not for joy, maybe not highly motivated. But out of necessity.
This is a story of the Futurist Club
by Science of the Time
Written by: Linda Hofman
Linda Hofman (MA. Bsc.) is professor in future foods & agriculture, in broader regions of Sustainability and Quality of Life. I help students and organisations to develop, describe and design sustainable futures and develop first steps towards this desired future. For the Future of Food, I consider the whole food systems as my playfield: food from ground to mouth and in all levels from the agricultural sector, food production and technology, but also food and the human body or vice versa.
Currently I am –as one of the founders of the used methodology ‘prototyping for a sustainable future with values’- working on the Sustainable Future of Europe in an International Erasmus project called ‘Foresight’. Also I’m part of a futures study about digital learning environment ‘Learning ecologies’ together with several Dutch Universities and organisations.
I like to give keynotes and was invited at Jonnie Boer’s Chef’s revolution, Paaspop Academy and several food transition tables.
I’m obsessed by the topic future consciousness in correlation with defence modus and like the word ‘meliorist’ and to wear big outdoor boots.
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