Throwing our food away: Up to 50% of the food produced worldwide is wasted

By Sonia Gandiaga, special to mongabay.com January 10, 2013 A new report titled “Global food, waste not, want not ” published by the Institute of Mechanical Engineers has found that 30 to 50 percent of all food produced in the world never reaches a stomach. The authors of the study warn that these figures are quite conservative. The large amounts of land, energy, fertilizers and water that are wasted in the food production have not been accounted for. In developing countries this waste is mostly due to inefficient harvesting methods, poor storage and transportation systems and an overall inadequate infrastructure which causes almost half of the food to be wasted before it even reaches the consumer. In Europe and the US the waste is caused mainly by consumer and retail behavior. Excessive marketing and discounting promotes consumers to buy more than what they really need, a...

Full article: http://news.mongabay.com/2013/0110-gandiaga-food-waste.html#

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@EkbalB » 12 Jan '13, 6am
While some countries starving “@earthblog: Throwing our food away: Up to 50% of food produced worldwide is wasted [link]”
@tlacocan » 12 Jan '13, 5am
RT @earthblog: Throwing our food away: Up to 50% of the food produced worldwide is wasted [link]
@MariE_S_Ar » 12 Jan '13, 5am
“@earthblog: Throwing our food away: Up to 50% of the food produced worldwide is wasted [link]” SHAME!!
@earthblog » 12 Jan '13, 5am
Throwing our food away: Up to 50% of the food produced worldwide is wasted [link]
@angusHamilton » 12 Jan '13, 6am
RT @earthblog: Throwing our food away: Up to 50% of the food produced worldwide is wasted [link]
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RT @earthblog: Throwing our food away: Up to 50% of the food produced worldwide is wasted [link]
@Tinastweet » 12 Jan '13, 5am
RT @earthblog: Throwing our food away: Up to 50% of the food produced worldwide is wasted [link]
@EmpatheticVegan » 12 Jan '13, 5am
RT @earthblog: Throwing our food away: Up to 50% of the food produced worldwide is wasted [link]
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RT @earthblog: Throwing our food away: Up to 50% of the food produced worldwide is wasted [link]