Food waste

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Food Waste

Food waste or food loss is food that is discarded or lost uneaten. The causes of food waste or loss are numerous and occur at the stages of producing, processing, retailing and consuming.

Pronunciation

  • /fuːd weɪst/

Etymology

The term "food waste" is derived from the English words "food" (from Old English fōda) and "waste" (from Latin vastus meaning 'desolate, waste').

Related Terms

Causes

Food waste can occur at most stages of the food industry and in significant amounts. In subsistence agriculture, the amounts of food waste are unknown, but are likely to be insignificant by comparison, due to the limited stages at which waste can occur, and given that food is grown for projected need as opposed to a global marketplace demand.

Production

Food waste can occur during the production stage due to machinery malfunction, weather, disease, and other unforeseen circumstances.

Processing

Food waste may also occur during the processing stage as a result of de-clumping, sizing, sorting, and quality assurance systems.

Retail

Retail stores throw away large quantities of food. Usually, this consists of items that have reached their either their best before, sell-by or use-by dates.

Consumption

Food waste continues in the post-harvest stage, but the amounts of post-harvest loss involved are relatively unknown and difficult to estimate.

Impact

The environmental impact of food waste is significant, as it leads to unnecessary carbon dioxide production, methane gas, and other greenhouse gases. It also wastes the resources used in food production, such as water, land, energy, labour and capital, and needlessly produces greenhouse gas emissions, contributing to global warming and climate change.

See Also

References

External links

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