QUANTIFYING FOOD WASTE Roger Martini, TAD Fisheries

Global Food Waste…

30%

50%

40%

US household food expenditure

0

2 000

4 000

6 000

8 000

10 000

12 000

0

5

10

15

20

25

1929 1939 1949 1959 1969 1979 1989 1999 2009

Disposable income Ependitures on food consumed at home Expenditures on food consumed away from home

US food availability

• Water Pollution

• Global Warming

• Land use change

What’s the problem?

A Method for Measuring Food Waste

1) Measure Per-capita Food supply

2) Determine Individual

requirements

3) Calculate waste as residual

Food Supply in a Typical African Country

Per-capita Energy supply 2445 kcal

Distribution losses

6% 149 kcal

Household storage losses

10% 229 kcal

Available energy

2067 kcal

Individual requirement

1951 kcal

Total waste=16%

378 kcal/day

Estimates of Food Losses in Canada

Per-capita Energy supply

3338 kcal

Field losses 3% 100

kcal

Household discards

15% 500 kcal

Available energy

2358 kcal

Individual requirement

2246 kcal

Transport Losses

1% 33 kcal

Processing Losses

6% 200 kcal

Retail Losses 4% 133

kcal

Restaurant losses

2% 66 kcal

Total waste=30%

980 kcal/day

Vaclav Smil: Feeding the World: A

Challenge for the Twenty-First Century..

UK Consumer Food Waste by Type

All other 16%

Dairy and eggs 7%

Meat and Fish 7%

Meals 8%

Bakery 10%

Drink 16%

Fresh fruit and veg 36%

US Retail, Foodservice and Consumer

Waste

Fresh Fruit and veg 20%

Fluid Milk 18%

Grains 15%

Sweeteners 12%

Processed Fruit and veg

9%

Meats 9%

Fats and oils 7%

All Other 10%

US Food Waste by Category

30%

30%

30%

29.5%

29.8%

14.9%

15%

32.4%

14.8%

0 20000 40000 60000 80000

Fresh Fruit and vegetables

Fluid Milk

Grains

Caloric Sweeteners

Dairy and eggs

Processed fruit and vegetables

Meat

Fats and oils

Other

Consumed retail loss foodservice and consumer loss

• Do Municipal Waste Surveys

• Collect Food Chain data

Stop repeating old estimates

Conclusion: Do Better on Primary Data

Collection

Discards in fishing…