{"id":3962,"date":"2018-11-29T10:44:03","date_gmt":"2018-11-29T15:44:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hiperbaric.com\/?p=3962"},"modified":"2020-09-18T10:36:24","modified_gmt":"2020-09-18T08:36:24","slug":"food-waste-hpp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hiperbaric.com\/en\/food-waste-hpp\/","title":{"rendered":"The Food Waste and HPP Story"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"HPP<\/p>\n

Food waste has become a problem that is present worldwide and it resonates loud everywhere we go. Yearly we waste about\u00a0 1,300 million tons and we lose about $940 billion. The repercussions\u00a0are not only economical but environmental as well. In this article we present you the food waste problem and how High Pressure Processing (HPP) can help to reduce it.<\/b><\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Food waste is an unfortunate problem that everyone in the world is facing with. It resonates loud at executive boards, activists and general population.<\/p>\n

Everyday at home we throw away about 1\/3 of our daily food and this happens in millions of households world wide. This\u00a0entails an annual waste of approximately 1,300 million tons and annual economic losses of $ 940 billion.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt means that more than a billion tons of food never gets consumed each year, while one in nine people remains undernourished”.<\/em> […]\u00a0Reducing food loss and waste therefore can generate a triple win: for the economy, for food security, and for the environment.\u201d <\/em>(Craig Hanson \u2013 Global Director of Food, Forests and Water at WRI, and Peter Mitchell \u2013 Head of Economics at WRAP).<\/span><\/p>\n

But what is food waste?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)<\/a> defines food waste as:<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cThe decrease in quantity or quality of food. Food waste is part of food loss and refers to discarding or alternative (non-food) use of food that is safe and nutritious for human consumption along the entire food supply chain, from primary production to end household consumer level.\u201d (FAO, 2014).\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The FAO also reminds us that an estimated one-third of all food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted world-wide. This waste is generated in all phases of the production chain (collection – processing – distribution – consumption). Although its incidence is directly associated with the country in which each of them is developed.<\/p>\n

\"food
FAO infographics to expose the origin of food loss and waste.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Food waste around the globe<\/h2>\n

The per capita amount of food wasted by consumers is 95 kg (210 lbs) to 115 kg (250 lbs) \/ year in Europe and North America. In\u00a0in sub-Saharan Africa and South, and Southeast Asia only 6 kg (13 lbs) to 11 kg (25 lbs) \/ year is wasted.<\/p>\n

Food waste in industrialized countries are as high as in developing countries. Although it must be taken into account that in developing countries more than 40% of these losses take place in the post-harvest and processing stages. In developed countries, that same percentage occurs in retail and consumption. Consumers in industrialized countries waste almost the same amount of food (222 million tons) as the total net food production in sub-Saharan Africa (230 million tons).<\/p>\n

It is estimated that food waste could rise by almost to third by 2030 when more than 2 billion tonnes will be binned.<\/p>\n

According to Somini Sengupta, journalist of The New York Times:<\/p>\n

\u201cFood waste is a glaring measure of inequality. In poor countries, most of the food waste is on the farm or on its way to market. In South Asia, for instance, half of all the cauliflower that\u2019s grown is lost because there\u2019s not enough refrigeration, according to Rosa Rolle, an expert on food waste and loss at the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. Tomatoes get squished if they are packed into big sacks. In Southeast Asia, lettuce spoils on the way from farms to city supermarkets. Very little food in poor countries is thrown out by consumers. It\u2019s too precious.<\/em><\/p>\n

But in wealthy countries, especially in the United States and Canada, around 40 percent of wasted food is thrown out by consumers.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Food<\/p>\n

This reality it is also tougher to digest when experts say that just in the U.S there are about 35 million tons of food thrown away every year. That equals to the weight of about 100 empire state buildings. This great info-graphic<\/a> from our customer\u00a0Universal Pure<\/a> gives a very good visual explaining about the current food waste problem in the United States:<\/p>\n

\"Food
Each year the U.S wastes 35 million tons of food, as much as 115 Empire state buildings.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

All this numbers certainly \u201cstink!\u201d<\/em> as Universal Pure states. The author Jonathan Bloom of the book \u201cAmerican Wasteland\u201d<\/em> also explains that the United States could fill a college stadium with the amount of food it wastes in one day. Can you imagine trying to fit 365 football stadiums to hold one year worth of American food waste?<\/p>\n

The numbers and data presented certainly can make some people rethink the way they approach their food habits, but it hasn’t always been this way.<\/p>\n

Hiperbaric was pleased to assist to the interesting presentation of Sarah Kolansky, Associate Director of Sustainability at Graham Partners about Food waste, that was offered last June the Annual Conference of the Cold Pressure Council<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur value of food has changed, our vision of food has changed\u201d<\/em>, a visual example is clearly seen in the publicity spots that usual consumers receive; seventy years ago spots prayed for a responsible use of food (\u201cFood is a weapon, don\u2019t waste it\u201d, \u201cSafe a loaf of bread, help win the war\u201d<\/em>), while last decades, companies spend their time trying to release the best offer in a commercial trade full of all kind of products.<\/p>\n

\"food
Sarah Kolansky, Associate Director of Sustainability at Graham Partners, image from presentation at Cold Pressure Council Annual Conference 2018<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Food waste consequences<\/h2>\n

\u201cThe amounts of waste and the social, economic and environmental implications are serious if we don\u2019t change the trajectory. When we fight food loss and waste, we also fight hunger, poverty and global warming.\u201d<\/em> (Esben Hegnsholt – Thomson Reuters Foundation).<\/p>\n

The United Nations Environment Program shows that\u00a0\u201cMoving towards more sustainable food systems is critical. Urgent attention is required to address existing challenges, as well as new and evolving demands on our food systems.\u201d\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0This is why it was created the Sustainable Food Systems program. Its activities aim to raise awareness as well as catalyze action at local, regional and international level.<\/p>\n

This video below from the UN environment, explains why we need to be more conscious about food waste and how we can all be part of the change:<\/p>\n

\u201cAsk yourself about the food that you produce or eat, eat a balanced diet and reduce your food waste.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n