‘’You can put as much food as you want in your plate, but you have to finish it all’’. This might ring a bell for some of us, as a common phrase coming from our grandmothers that were not kidding about food waste. But in communities where everything is constantly readily available, we tend to easily forget that food is not to be wasted.
1/3 of the food produced globally ends up as waste[i]. At the same time, FAO reports that in 78 of the countries where it works (and where data is available), more than 333 million people were facing acute levels of food insecurity in 2023[ii]. This means that while a significant part of the global population is hungry, we still emit significant amounts of GHG emissions to produce, preserve, ship, cook, and dispose food that is not enjoyed by anyone. This wasted food also represents a huge financial loss of about US$ 1 trillion annually, the equivalent of Turkey’s entire GDP in 2023.
While these are overwhelmingly large numbers, what are the quantities that come from our plates? How much CO2 is emitted in vain when we throw away part of a food order that was too ambitious for our appetite?
FAO, the United Nations Organization leading international efforts to defeat hunger and improve nutrition and food security, received the mandate from the Director General Qu Dongyu and other members of FAO senior management some months ago. The mandate was to ensure that FAO was "walking the talk" at headquarters and to design and implement a system to monitor leftovers and food waste in the organization's canteens.
The FAO Corporate Environmental Responsibility team was initially tasked with launching the food waste monitoring initiative for FAO Headquarter canteens during the World Food Forum of October 2023. Working against a tight deadline, with the help of a startup providing the know-how and the digital measurement system[i] and 10 University volunteers, FAO set up these sorting stations in record time. Throughout the initial phase, invaluable insights emerged from users, volunteers, FAO employees, and kitchen staff. This collective input helped further refine the initiative.
Today, this initiative is scaled up. Employees and visitors are encouraged to actively engage in sorting their leftovers at smart food waste stations before returning their empty plates. Each of the five cafeterias is equipped with one food waste station, categorizing leftovers into four distinct categories: 1) Cereals & Pulses 2) Fruits & Vegetables 3) Roots, Tubers & Oil-Bearing Crops, and 4) Meat & Animal Products. Smart precision scales automatically record the weight of the leftovers, providing a daily assessment of waste volume. The measurement of the weight of leftovers is transmitted to a data management system, offering valuable insights into the environmental impact of food waste.
The main outcome is staff sensitization and awareness raising. The first numbers are encouraging. During the month of October 2023, the canteens at FAO produced 1,372 kg of food waste, corresponding to 8 grams of leftovers per meal. In environmental terms, this translates to around 1,800 kg CO₂eq, roughly equivalent to the carbon absorbed by approximately 81 trees in a year’s time. Equipped with this knowledge, the Organization can start forming strategies for food waste reduction. With the sorting stations in FAO Headquarters operating, the FAO Corporate Environmental Responsibility team keeps on planning for the future:
‘’70-80% of the food waste happens inside the kitchen. We are looking into our initiative and into ways to inform the supply and preparation of our meals’’.
FAO is now in the process of installing additional food waste stations in the kitchens, to more systematically monitor food waste at the food production stage. FAO has started training kitchen staff to reinforce the importance of food waste reduction and empower them to participate in these practices. The training will continue in the coming months to ensure all staff are equipped with the necessary knowledge and skills.
The ongoing refinement of the food waste monitoring system aims to maximize its efficiency, rapidity, and user-friendliness, ensuring the comprehensive capture of all food waste based on lessons learned. In 2024, FAO will prioritize establishing baselines and piloting solutions to sustain these practices at Headquarters and keep effectively sensitizing employees.
"This marks just the initial phase of FAO's food waste monitoring project. Looking ahead, We, the CER team, wish to replicate this pioneering initiative across country offices, further reducing FAO's environmental footprint and food waste, one plate at a time."
- Discover more on FAO’s work to achieve SDG 2 without breaching the 1.5C threshold Home | Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (fao.org)
- Discover UNEP’s Food Waste Index Food Waste Index Report 2024 | UNEP - UN Environment Programme
Article written by Ilektra Papadaki and Nayoung Lee from UNEP based on interviews with Christopher Breen, Giulia Cavo, and Riccardo Del Citto from FAO.