It is commonly known that food and health go hand in hand. What many may not realise is that food and planetary health do as well. We are quite literally both eating into and throwing away a finite supply of the Earth’s resources, all the while wasting perfectly good (energy expensive) food as we go. There is no question that food waste needs to be reduced, and resources managed in a more mindful and future prepared manner.
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation (EMF) has been monumental in helping to educate and inspire people on the benefits of a circular economy, so these three blogs are loosely based around the three key principles that are seen to be the foundation of a CE as found on the EMF website. Our current system is fast steering us into food insecurity and needs be replaced by an economy that is built on the EMF’s proposed principles: one that designs out waste and pollution, keeps products and materials in use, and regenerates natural systems. CE is a model that seeks to limit both the extraction of raw materials, and the production of waste. It aims to recover and reuse materials in a systemic way via a “make/remake-use/reuse” economy. The circular economy represents a big change in thinking and in a time which is requiring big changes now more than ever, we must implement it.
When this issue of food waste is examined next to our current linear economy, it is easy to see how such a wasteful present dilemma has come to be. A linear “take-make-use-dispose” economy expects that resources are infinite; however, we know that they are not. Once they are used, they will be gone for good, thus mitigation is not enough. Aside from the obvious advantage of transitioning to a circular economy to reduce and reverse our impacts on climate change, it would also offer benefits such as long-term cost savings, increased local job opportunities, reduction of harmful waste produced and encourage technical innovation ( (Ministry for the Environment).
What is the extent of our waste?
New Zealand households throw away approximately 220,000 tonnes of food each year. On top of this figure, industries here in Aotearoa are estimated to throw away more than 103,000 tonnes of food-waste annually (Reynolds, Mirosa, & Clothier, 2016). These are overwhelming statistics on their own, but when considered at a global level they highlight the matter of ‘food-waste’ as a public health and environmental issue requiring urgent action and change. We are not only throwing away good kai, but also the inputs required to produce that food; all of which come at a cost to the environment. On a global scale, it is estimated that this one third of wasted food is equivalent to four-times what it would take to feed the worlds 15 million hungry (Global Footprint Network).
On top of the unnecessary waste of resources, as food waste breaks down in landfills it forms methane - a greenhouse gas up to 86 times more powerful than CO2. Project Drawdown estimates that food wastes’ contribution to climate change is responsible for approximately 8 percent of global emissions. Thus, reducing food waste will also greatly reduce the strain on our Earth’s resources, meaning a healthier planet.
Consider the intensive amount of time, energy and resources that go into food production; seeds, water, energy, fertiliser, labour, land, and financial capital to name a few. Yet globally, an estimated one-third of this food produced ends up in landfills rather than our stomachs (Love Food Hate Waste).
What is wasted food?
There is a difference between food loss and food waste, with food waste being what the focus of this blog is on. According to the NGO World Resources Institute (WRI), food loss is defined as “food that has become unfit for consumption before it reaches the consumer, and food waste as the discarding of food that is fit for consumption, either before or after it spoils.”
The way we currently produce goods is based on the values of consumerism. Such an economy is built on principle of growth, and is unsustainable. Our current population is at 7.6 billion people, yet an estimated 1.3 billion tonnes of food produced is lost or wasted per year (Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO)).
Food waste is costly to those who are most vulnerable, and as is becoming the case with climate migrants; those in developing nations who contribute the least to carbon emissions, yet are often the first to feel its negative effects. In this current era of the Anthropocene, strains on resources in the form of global ecological overspending is fast becoming a crisis. The FAO have published a number of key facts on food loss and food waste, with one in particular highlighting the inequality of food waste. “Every year, consumers in rich countries waste almost as much food (222 million tonnes) as the entire net food production of sub-Saharan Africa (230 million tonnes).”
How can a CE reduce food waste?
The circular economy is perhaps one of our planets’ greatest hopes to ensure a healthy planet for generations to come. This means nutritious food from healthy soils, reliable weather patterns, safe drinking water, biodiversity and a food system which can support both our growing population and the planet. It is a concept both demanding and promoting systemic change away from current linear “take- make-waste/dispose” consumption and production practices. The aim of the circular economy is to decouple environmental pressure from economic growth and to achieve this balance between society, economy and the environment, resource efficiency (use) is key (Ghisellini, Cialani, & Ulgiati, 2015).
According to the EAT Lancet Commission, “food is the single strongest lever to optimize human health and environmental sustainability on Earth.” So, rather than focus on the mess (or in this case, waste) itself, a ‘solutions-based’ focus will encourage innovative, inspiring and inclusive responses to problems. If we change our mindset to view waste as a design flaw instead, aiming to keep products and materials in use for a lot longer, then so too will we optimize human and planetary health. This is what a CE could offer.
Rather than trying to control nature, we should be looking at ways to mimic her - to regenerate living systems that will repair the damage we have caused. There is a lot to be learned from the way our natural systems operate and there is no doubt that a much more even balance between use of the Earth’s ecological resources and our own activity will have to occur ("July 29: Earth Overshoot Day 2019 is the Earliest Ever", 2019).
What does all this mean in terms of bringing about meaningful change?
It means that a system that enable us and the planet to thrive for generations to come does exist. I see the impact of CE as being akin to what a cure or good medicine would be in healing an illness. A circular economy can reduce food waste and its far-reaching negative consequences by addressing the cause, not just the symptoms. It has a pivotal role in bringing about meaningful change, but this will require participation from all members in society, and all aspects of the supply chain; from farmers and grocery store owners, to consumers, corporates and governments.