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Food loss is defined as “the decrease in quantity or quality of food” and are the agricultural or fisheries products intended for human consumption that are ultimately not eaten by people or that have incurred a reduction in quality reflected in their nutritional value, economic value or food safety. An important part of food loss is “food waste”, which refers to the discarding or alternative (non-food) use of food that was fit for human consumption – by choice or after the food has been left to spoil or expire as a result of negligence. Global Initiative on Food Loss and Waste Reduction (FAO 2014) Food waste is a problem mainly in industrialized countries, with retailers and consumers throwing away perfectly edible foodstuffs. Per capita waste by consumers is between 95 and 115 kilogrammes a year in Europe and North America. In sub-Saharan Africa and South and Southeast Asia, consumers throw away only 6 to 11 kilogrammes a year. Feeding the World Sustainably / by José Graziano Da Silva (UN Chronicle, 2012) |
UN Entities
- Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
- Food loss and food waste: http://www.fao.org/food-loss-and-food-waste/en/
- Food loss and waste database: http://www.fao.org/food-loss-and-food-waste/flw-data/en/
- SAVE FOOD: Global Initiative on Food Loss and Waste Reduction: http://www.fao.org/save-food/en/
- Food chain crisis: http://www.fao.org/food-chain-crisis/en/
- Food safety: http://www.fao.org/food-safety/en/
- Food security and nutrition for all: http://www.fao.org/food-security-and-nutrition-for-all/en/
- Food systems: http://www.fao.org/food-systems/en/
- Sustainable food and agriculture: http://www.fao.org/sustainability/en/
- World food situation: http://www.fao.org/worldfoodsituation/en/
- 15 quick tips for reducing food waste and becoming a Food hero: We all have a part to play in saving food (29 September 2020): http://www.fao.org/fao-stories/article/en/c/1309609/
- Three smart ways innovation is helping reduce food loss and waste: On the first International Day of Awareness for Food Loss and Waste, let’s talk about solving the problem (28 September 2020): http://www.fao.org/fao-stories/article/en/c/1309567/
- UN Environment Programme (UNEP)
- International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)
- Food loss reduction: https://www.ifad.org/en/food-loss-reduction
- Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Food/Pages/FoodIndex.aspx - World Food Programme (WFP): http://www.wfp.org/
- Campaign #StopTheWaste: https://cdn.wfp.org/2020/stop-the-waste/
- UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)
- UNECE and the Food Loss Challenge: https://www.unece.org/trade/agr/unece-foodlosschallenge.html
- World Bank
- Climate smart agriculture: https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/climate-smart-agriculture
- Food security: https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/food-security
Further Information
- UN News Stories on Food Waste: https://news.un.org/en/tags/food-waste
- Sustainable Development Goal 2 – Zero Hunger
http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/hunger/
https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdg2
https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/topics/foodagriculture - Global Issues on the UN Agenda – Food: http://www.un.org/en/sections/issues-depth/food/index.html
- High-Level Task Force on the Global Food Security Crisis (HLTF): http://www.un.org/en/issues/food/taskforce/
- UNRIC in Focus: Food Waste: https://archive.unric.org/en/food-waste
UN Observances
- World Food Safety Day – 7 June: https://www.un.org/en/observances/food-safety-day ,
http://www.fao.org/fao-who-codexalimentarius/world-food-safety-day/about/en/ - International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste – 29 September:
https://www.un.org/en/sections/observances/international-days/index.html, http://www.fao.org/international-day-awareness-food-loss-waste/en/ - World Food Day – 16 October: http://www.fao.org/world-food-day/en/
Selected Publications available online
- SAVE FOOD Newsletter: http://www.fao.org/save-food/news-and-multimedia/newsletter/en/
- FAO Publications on food waste: https://bit.ly/37YGwCL
- FAO Infographics: http://www.fao.org/resources/infographics/en/
- Do Good: Save Food! Together we can fight food waste: 9 easy tips (Flyer, FAO, 2017): http://www.fao.org/3/a-i7059e.pdf
- Code of Good Practice: Reducing food loss in handling fruit and vegetables (UNECE, 2019): https://bit.ly/354W4V5
- Simply Measuring: UNECE food loss and waste measuring methodology for fresh produce supply chains (UNECE, 2019): https://bit.ly/2sVRom5
September 2020
not an official document – for information only
https://unric.org/en/unric-library-backgrounder-food-waste/