According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 1.3 billion tons of food is wasted every year. If we follow this trend, the amount of food waste will be at least 2.1 billion tons per year.

1. Food waste is everyone's business:

Experts at the World Resources Institute (WRI) say that food waste is everyone's business and that a whole-chain approach must be taken to tackle the problem. According to their research, food waste is similar in different countries and regions of the world - 35 percent in North America, 36 percent in sub-Saharan Africa, 34 percent in Europe, South America and Asia, and 26 percent in South and Southeast Asia. For example, in North America, about 590 pounds of food is wasted per person per year, while in South and Southeast Asia, 220 pounds of food is wasted per person per year, which is 2.68 times more than the latter.

2. Africa faces a dire situation:

In terms of food waste during transportation, storage and processing, the situation in Africa is much worse. In North America, 58% of food is wasted at the consumption stage and 6% is lost during storage and processing; whereas in sub-Saharan Africa, only 6% of food loss occurs at the consumption stage, with a 36% loss rate during storage and processing. Different regions need different measures to address food waste. For most countries and regions in Africa, improving storage conditions and transportation methods is key. For the United States, a change in mindset is extremely important. It is necessary to guide consumers to buy and consume foods that do not sell well, such as scarred fruits and vegetables, to avoid these foods from spoiling and going to waste.

3. Volume-based fines:

South Korea has implemented volume-based fines since 2013? fines by volume? policy. Residents of Seoul are required to pay a fine based on the weight of the food they waste. volume-based fines. Some nonprofit organizations recycle crops abandoned by farmers and distribute them to food processors. Some food service companies change their food offerings based on the food wasted by their customers. Achieving the goal of halving food waste by 2030 will be very difficult if we just shout slogans, or if we are just positive and optimistic and don't take action. This is something that concerns every food producer and consumer, which means that it is closely related to everyone.

In this regard, what do you think should be done to solve the problem of food waste? Feel free to leave a comment below and join the discussion.