Tag Archives: UN

Chatting on Food Waste Day

And you thought September 29 was just National (U.S.) Coffee Day! The UN declared this day to in fact be International Day of Awareness for Food Loss and Waste. Who am I to argue? Instead, I joined the UN FAO’s Twitter chat. While I’d appreciate a shorter acronym next time to alleviate the Twitter character […]

September 29, 2020 | Posted in Environment, Food Recovery, General, International, Leftovers, Storage | Comments closed

Something To Shoot For: US Sets Food Waste Reduction Goal

Today, the USDA and EPA joined forces with charitable organizations, faith-based organizations, food companies and local governments to set the first ever national food waste reduction goal. For sure, it’s a happy day in the land of wasted food. Yet my initial elation is now tempered with a few reservations. The Great: It’s a whopper! […]

September 16, 2015 | Posted in Campaigns, Stats | Comments closed

Visualizing Food Waste’s Footprint

Courtesy of the UN FAO, here’s a nice overview of the environmental footprint of food wastage*: * Note–‘Wastage’ includes both waste and loss. All the food produced but not eaten, globally.

September 26, 2013 | Posted in Environment, International, Stats | Comments closed

Food Waste is World’s Third-Largest Carbon Emitter

Global food wastage accounts for more greenhouse gas emissions than any country except the US and China. For those who speak climate change, that’s 3.3 Gigatonnes of CO2 equivalent. That finding and many, many more are part of the long-anticipated UN FAO study Food Wastage Footprint (here’s the full study PDF). It’s particularly exciting for me […]

September 12, 2013 | Posted in Environment, International, Stats | Comments closed

World Environment Day Recap

Yesterday was World Environment Day, and it was raining food waste activism. If only every day could be World Environment Day! (Not quite as catchy as ‘Earth Day every day,’ but you get the idea…). I had a hard time keeping track of all that happened yesterday in Food Waste World, so I’m guessing you […]

June 6, 2013 | Posted in Environment, General, Hunger, International | Comments closed

This Just In: Think. Eat. Save

Exciting News: The UN Food and Agriculture Organization, the UN Environmental Program and several other partners have joined forces to create Think. Eat. Save, a one-stop shop for your anti-food-waste needs. The global campaign kicked off on January 22, and it aims to accelerate awareness and action on food waste. It’s always encouraging to see […]

January 23, 2013 | Posted in International | Comments closed

European Produce Pondering

On Friday, I was surprised to hear the finding that 50% of Europe’s fruits and vegetables aren’t eaten. Turns out I missed one small word–that close to 50% is wasted. Not a big deal, though, as nearly everyone uses tiny modifiers for impact. With or without modifiers, European produce waste is shocking. Yet even worse is North […]

October 9, 2012 | Posted in Composting, Household, International, Stats | Comments closed

Friday Buffet

Wait, what?! According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, 50% of Europe’s fruit and vegetables are wasted. I’ll have more on this staggering news on Monday. — — Lots of food waste discussion up in Canada. A recent report found that 51% of Canadian food waste comes from homes. I’m not sure I’d classify that as […]

October 5, 2012 | Posted in Composting, Energy, Friday Buffet, Household, International, Stats, Waste Stream | Comments closed

Just the Facts…

Recently, I worked with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization to create a fact sheet on food waste. Or rather, on food wastage, a term we created to incorporate food losses and waste. Ah, semantics! I think the final product turned out pretty well. It’s informative and attractive (thanks to the designers). Anyone looking for […]

June 18, 2012 | Posted in International, Personal | Comments closed

Crowded Agenda

Happy World Population Day! Later this year, we’ll hit 7 million people. That’s why one of the 7 billion actions should be getting more efficient with our food. In other words, to waste less. Just something to think about the next time you find an article about changing agriculture to feed the growing planet that […]

July 11, 2011 | Posted in Environment, Farm, Personal | Comments closed