Food waste
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
- Medical encyclopedia article on Food waste
- Wikipedia's article - Food waste
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