Waste Not, Want More?
A discussion on food waste
As a kid, I drank a lot of milk. I had this huge 32-ounce cup that I would fill to the top and then being, you know, a kid, I would drink half and leave the other half sitting out, running off to find a tree to climb. My dad being, you know, a dad, would scold me for leaving the milk out. But, true to his frugality, he would put the cup half-full of milk in the fridge. And so I would regularly enjoy cold milk I found left in the fridge while also developing a disdain for food waste.
Current estimates of food loss (pre-consumer) and food waste (post-consumer) are around 14 and 17% of total food production, respectively. This accounts for about 527 Calories per person daily, or, for vegan readers, a little less than one Panera Mediterranean Veggie Sandwich, sin-feta. From a greenhouse gas (GHG) standpoint, this is about a quarter of total food system emissions and 6% of all GHG emissions. However, a 2023 study indicates a percentage closer to half of total food system emissions. Yet this still quantifies only one planetary boundary. There is also significant water and land use associated with food loss and waste (FLW), as well as air pollution, ocean acidification, land toxicity, etc.
Logically, efforts to reduce FLW and the associated environmental impacts seem like a no-brainer. If we lose 31% (14+17% mentioned above) of our food production, we could think of that as producing 31% more food than is necessary. If we reduce food waste by just half, we could theoretically reduce 15.5% of the environmental impact of our global food systems. While this may only be half of 6% of GHG emissions, considering the situation we currently find ourselves in, it seems worth pursuing.
Previous studies modeled FLW reductions on a local or regional scale, but a new paper published in Nature Food gives us a perspective on a global scale.
It finds that because of a tendency in consumer behavior known as the “rebound effect,” we may not get the complete gains in environmental impact reduction we thought we would. Reducing FLW would lead to increased food availability, which, due to supply and demand factors, could decrease the cost of food. Consumers, noting this change, might respond by purchasing more food than before, offsetting the environmental reduction impacts.
Extremely watered down, think of it like this: Papa Johns decides to reduce the number of burnt pizzas they make. In doing so, they save money on resources used for an extra pizza when one gets burnt. Being the benevolent company they are, they roll these savings onto the consumer. Pizza lovers, noticing the lower cost of pizza, flock to Papa Johns, resulting in more pizza to satisfy the new customer demand.
Essentially, instead of everyone wanting a bigger piece of the pie, the pie itself grows bigger.
Studies of the rebound effect in the energy industry found that increasing efficiency results in a 5–10% rebound (a 5–10% reduction in environmental benefits). However, this new study on FLW modeled the rebound at a 53–71% loss of benefit, raising the question if efforts to reduce food waste would even be worth it.
In a discussion with Margaret Hegwood, the lead author of the new study, she quoted the British statistician George Box, saying, “All models are wrong, but some are useful.” This is to say, many complexities and nuances go into modeling (a.k.a. predicting the future), but a model reliable enough to inform us what decisions to make moving forward is what counts. Hegwood believes their modeling scenario can give us insight into where we should spend our efforts. As mentioned in a review of the study by economist Marc Bellemare, if the goal is to reduce GHG emissions, we could probably find a better way to do so than by tackling food waste. However, the study also found that by reducing FLW, there are benefits in food security, ranging from 100 Calories per day in the West (US, Canada, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand) to over 300 in more food-insecure regions like Sub-Saharan Africa.
It’s unlikely many of us work in food systems policy or have the financial power to make large-scale changes, so what information can we glean from this?
My grandmother grew up during the Great Depression with seven other siblings and a single mom. Thankfully, someone was able to step in and help support the family, but her experience undoubtedly passed on to my dad and then on to me. It’s easier for impressionable children to develop a contempt for waste like I did. However, each generation shouldn’t have to live through a Great Depression to understand the importance of reducing food waste. As annoying and problematic as it is to hear that children are starving in Africa, we must remind people, especially those who look up to us, that having a full belly is a privilege. To waste food is disrespectful to those who go without it.
Now, if you’ve been to some American restaurants, you’ve experienced large portion sizes. We are so food secure that we receive two meals worth in one sitting. Speaking to other cultures, Hegwood mentions the cultural importance of providing prodigious meals in the United Arab Emirates, reflecting the host’s hospitality. Recognizing cultural and emotional associations with our food can help separate it from its purely life-sustaining quality. However, from a purely objective lens, it’s easy to see why some researchers consider these large meals wasted calories, even if entirely consumed. Some even call for adding these over-consumption levels to our calculations of food waste.
My frugality alone does not make a substantial difference. But my experience does give me points of connection with other people. Bringing my to-go container to the restaurant, I can share my practice of saving my double-sized American meal as leftover for the next day. Or I can normalize sharing with a partner or friend, bringing that connection even closer. Knowing what it feels like to reduce my food waste provides me with learning opportunities that I can’t get by simply reading an article about it. Reflecting on this, Hegwood mentions the importance of “having a diet that reflects the things that are important to you.”
While solving food waste may not be priority number one, it does serve as a microcosm for a discussion on waste more generally. “Sustainable living” is a trendy topic nowadays because many of us see that our ingenuity may not get us out of the current humanitarian and environmental problems we face. Instead, we may have to focus on changing our behavior and, as we learned as kids, pour a little less milk in our glass.
