Food System Problems and Scope

Transcription

1 Food System Problems and Scope Food Waste Global Crisis, Global Opportunity A Link to Childhood Hunger and Obesity Steven M. Finn ResponsEcology, Inc. University of Pennsylvania Obesity Hunger Food Waste All serious problems of the food system with global, national, regional, and local dimensions Increasing Focus on Obesity & Food Obesity Troubling Statistics WHO reports that obesity has more than doubled around the world since 1980, and 42 million children below 5 years of age were overweight or obese in 2013 Source: WHO, 2014 FRAC reports that 35% of U.S. adults and 17% of U.S. children are obese Source: FRAC., 2014 The CDC recently estimated annual medical costs in the U.S. from obesity at $147 billion Source: CDC,

2 Obesity Troubling Statistics About 30% of the world s population is now overweight or obese; at current rates 50% of the world s adult population will be overweight or obese by 2030 Obesity is one of the top 3 global social burdens created by humans (just behind smoking and armed conflict/war/terrorism) Huge costs personal, social and financial (2.9% of global GDP, or $2 Trillion) Source: Dobbs, et al., 2014 Question: How much do these themes sink in? A Story from Our Schools Hunger, obesity, and food waste Lower quality food consumed, better quality food discarded A Story of Need The Problem of Hunger (Global) Hunger and isolation coexisting with celebration and abundance Question: Is this really a meal? 805 million people (11% of the global population) were chronically undernourished from 2012 to 2014 Source: FAO, WFP, and IFAD 2014 The vast majority of these individuals live in developing countries Source: FAO, WFP, and IFAD 2014 About 2 billion individuals face one or more micronutrient deficiencies Source: FAO, 2014 ( 2

3 The Problem of Hunger (U.S.) Wasted Food Global Estimates Roughly 50 million Americans lived in food insecure households in 2013 (about 1 in 6) Roughly one third (nearly 16 million) were children In 2013, households with children reported food insecurity at a much higher rate than those without children (20% to 12%) Source: About 1/3 of all edible parts of food produced globally for human consumption go to waste annually Source: Gustavsson et al., 2011 A study by SIWI noted that food losses and wastage could be as high as 50% from field to fork Source: Lundqvist, % of all food produced (1.2 to 2 billion tons) is lost before being consumed by man Source: Fox, 2013 Wasted Food in the U.S. Wasted Food in the U.S study estimated that 20% of the food produced in the U.S. for human consumption was lost annually Source: USDA, 1977 Two decades later, another study estimated U.S. food losses at 27% of food available for human consumption Source: Kantor et al., 1997 Recent NRDC report 40% of our food is not eaten Source: Gunders, 2012 Key Point: Food Waste and Obesity rates have been rising together Most recent USDA Study: 31% of the available food supply at the retail and consumer levels in 2010 was not eaten A total of 133 billion pounds of food (meat, poultry, fish, vegetables, dairy, etc.) Value of $162 billion Source: Buzby, Wells, & Hyman,

4 Wasted Food All Types From baked goods Wasted Food All Types To Greens and Vegetables To Fruits Wasted Food All Types Wasted Food All Types To Meat Proteins 4

5 Sum: We Have Related Problems A Significant Calorie Shortfall Hunger and Obesity Not enough food Not enough high quality calories Excessive amount of poor calories from processed foods Lack of access to quality food + Excessive amounts of food loss and waste And We need to feed nine billion by 2050, yet we are not successfully feeding between 800M and 2B global citizens now We will need to increase available global food calories by 60% over 2006 levels to meet demand Source: Searchinger, 2013 Reducing wasted food is part of the solution The Opportunity in Wasted Food If we reduced food wastage by capturing and redirecting excess high quality food, we could: Reduce hunger Improve nutrition Reduce obesity and diet related illness The Opportunity in Wasted Food We could also: Improve the environment Improve community Improve security Save money $ 5

6 A Resource Optimization Challenge Wasted food is the low hanging fruit Causes of Wasted Food Developed World: A Culture of Abundance We expect vast quantities of beautiful, relatively inexpensive produce at all times in multiple locations Causes of Wasted Food The cost of 24x7 Variety Causes of Wasted Food The Quest for Perfection leads to waste 6

7 Causes of Wasted Food Freshness Premiums lead to waste Causes of Wasted Food And myriad other factors lead to losses/waste: Extreme Weather Pests Regulations Overly selective quality standards Damage from machinery Loss in transport and storage Food prep and conversion Supply and demand variability Damaged packaging Over purchasing Confusion over sell by dates Plate waste Source: Kantor et al The Potential in Excess Food If we could save ¼ of the food currently lost or wasted annually, it would be enough to feed the 800+ million hungry across the globe today Source: FAO Save Food 2013 In the U.S., capturing and redistributing many high quality calories currently being wasted could offset the challenges of food deserts Some Recommendations for Change We need a multi faceted approach: Mindset change, valuing food Raising awareness Education link to hunger and obesity Collaboration and Partnerships Supporting experiments, new models Landing on the National Agenda Reframe and Act 7

8 Re thinking About Food Raising Awareness Start with Mindset Change We need to properly value our food And the resources that go into producing it Wastage of 30 40% is not acceptable Change is not an option, it s a necessity Communicating the scale of food waste Demonstrating the potential in excess food (environmental, social, financial) Feeding the 5000 (UK); UPenn DYNM 615 class Education About Wasted Food Promoting a resource optimization approach Convey the long term benefits of food recovery Linking excess food to hunger and obesity** Collaboration and Partnerships Promoting collaboration for efficient food recovery (infrastructure, logistics, labor, etc.) Knowledge sharing Use of Technology 8

9 Support For New Models Incentives for models that capture and redirect high quality excess food to needy people: Fare and Square (Philabundance) Daily Table (MA) Rolling Harvest (PA) Food Recovery Network (U.S.) Intermarche France (ugly fruit is good, too!) See Inglorious Fruits and Vegetables A National Priority Add the issue of food waste to the National agenda in the U.S. (London has the right idea) Framework for research and measurement National Ad Campaign to change consumer behavior (stay tuned) Drive change through supply chain (consumer to retail to producer) Reframe and Act Reframe the challenges of wasted food as opportunities to be exploited Link wasted food, hunger, and obesity to the nine billion by 2050 challenge and to global security Promote the win win in food recovery Shift focus to utilizing existing food resources rather than simply producing more Business must play a big role Educate, communicate, innovate. Act. Questions? Contact Steven M. Finn at ResponsEcology

10 References References Buzby, et al. The Estimated Amount, Value, and Calories of Postharvest Food Losses at the Retail and Consumer Levels in the United States CDC. Dobbs, et al. Overcoming obesity: An initial economic analysis FAO. Micronutrients sensitiveagriculture and food based approaches/micronutrients/en/ FAO. Save Food. Global Initiative on Food Losses and Waste Reduction FAO, IFAD, and WFP. The State of Food Insecurity in the World, Feeding America. Hunger and Poverty Fact Sheet Fox, et al. Global Food: Waste Not, Want Not FRAC. and obesity/obesity in th e us/ Gunders, How America Is Losing Up to 40 Percent of Its Food from Farm to Fork Gustavsson et al. Global Food Losses and Food Waste Extent, Causes, and Prevention Kantor, et al. Estimating and Addressing America s Food Losses Lundqvist et al. Saving Water: From Field to Fork Curbing Losses and Wastage in the Food Chain Searchinger, et al. The Great Balancing Act USDA. Food Waste: An Opportunity To Improve Resource Use WHO. 10