A few days ago, the Council of Ministers approved a bill that obliges all agents in the food chain (from restaurants to supermarkets) to avoid food waste. What does it mean? That food sites will not be able to throw away products lightly. They will need to make it easy for their customers to take their leftovers home or donate them to organizations that work with people at risk of exclusion.
Hunger remains a global problem. And the data shows that up to 2 billion people could eat everything that is thrown away.
The new law. With the new norm called Prevention of Losses and Food Waste, the Government wants to stop waste. It contemplates measures such as encouraging the sale of products that are about to expire by lowering their price, among others. When donations to food banks are not possible, attempts will be made to transform them into preserves or processed foods such as juices, jams or sauces.
Establishments will have to take this seriously as fines ranging from 2,000 to 60,000 euros will be imposed for those who do not comply. For serious infractions, figures that reach 150,000 euros are stipulated.
How much food do we waste each year? A lot. too much. Globally, each year 17% of the total food production in the world (about 1,300 million tons), which is equivalent to more than one trillion euros, is wasted, according to the report of the United Nations Program for the Environment Ambient. That is why the UN recently decided to launch a global goal: to halve global food waste per capita by 2030. We are far from achieving it.
Who wastes more? According to EU data, it is estimated that 40% of waste is concentrated in the food processing and manufacturing industry, another 40% in the consumer (61% according to a UN report), 15% in restaurants and 5% in food distribution. Leading the way are the wealthy countries of North America, Europe and Asia: they collectively waste 222 million tons of food each year.
A brutal figure if we take into account that all the countries of sub-Saharan Africa produce 230 million tons of food each year.
Could feed millions of people. L The UN estimates that the world generates enough waste to feed up to 2 billion people each year. Keep in mind that more than 815 million people do not have access to food to lead a healthy life and almost 25% of people in developing countries are undernourished, according to the World Food Program. And it is not only the food that is thrown away, but all the resources that are used to produce it. For example, all the water and farmland that is used for it.
Image: Gruffydd Thomas (Flickr)