Today's consumption habits can jeopardize future generations' access to food.

The rapidly increasing population worldwide necessitates an increase in food production as well. If the population continues to increase at this rate, it is estimated that food production should increase by an average of 60%. While the demand for food is increasing, the deteriorating climate structure also causes various disruptions in the food production process. Without the necessary precautions, this disruption will increasingly hinder access to food. Preventing food loss and waste serves as a solution to future problems. It is widely acknowledged that our understanding of the global scale of food loss and waste is significantly insufficient (FAO, 2019).

Some of produced products are wasted during the supply and transportation process, while others are wasted for various reasons during the consumption stage. Considering that food loss and food waste carry different conceptual meanings, it would not be wrong to say that the reasons for these losses and waste are also different. Food loss and food waste are terms considered significant issues worldwide.

  1. Food loss: food loss occurs as a result of the spoilage, damage, or disposal of food items during production, processing, storage, transportation, and sale processes. For example, situations such as the spoilage of products or damage during transportation or storage can lead to food loss in the process from farm to table.

  2. Food waste: food waste, on the other hand, is a phenomenon that occurs at the consumer level. Food waste can occur from the time of grocery shopping to the food being served on the plate. For example, food items purchased by consumers but not consumed or discarded are considered waste. This can happen due to reasons such as unconscious shopping, cooking more than necessary, or the expiration date passing.

Food loss and food waste are not only serious issues in terms of food security and economics but also have significant environmental impacts. Various strategies and policies are being developed and implemented to combat these problems.

Food loss and waste can occur at each step of this process, extending from pre-harvest to consumer behavior, due to many different reasons. Some disruptions that occur before the harvest of food are not evaluated within the framework of food loss and waste. However, factors such as excessive rain, drought, weeds, harmful insects, etc., indirectly contribute to the product not reaching the desired size and quality. A farmer who thinks they cannot sell such a product may leave it in the field without harvesting it, representing a significant portion of food loss and waste (FAO, 2020).

Improper harvesting

Failure to properly plan the harvest time of the crop, careless behavior during harvesting, incorrect harvesting techniques, inadequate or faulty equipment; inability to determine the appropriate temperature after harvesting, failure to create suitable storage conditions, and mishaps during packaging all contribute to the increase in food loss and waste. For example, if the product is not stored under appropriate conditions immediately after harvesting, spoilage occurs much faster in subsequent stages of the value chain. Furthermore, improper container usage after harvesting leads to crushing and compression of the products, resulting in significant losses. During the transportation stage, unsuitable road conditions, careless loading and unloading, failure to secure the products during transportation, and transporting incompatible products together all contribute to food loss and waste (Dölekoğlu et al., 2014; FAO, 2018; Mattar et al., 2018; Demir, 2020; FAO, 2020).

Consumer side

Excesses in presentation to entice consumers to purchase the product, the desire to present the perfect, buffet practices, offerings brought to the consumer without their request, inability to prevent direct contact of the consumer with the displayed product, failure to create appropriate storage conditions, inability to sell products with a short shelf life and approaching Recommended Consumption Date (RCD), inadequate stock management, and similar reasons contribute to food loss and waste (FAO, 2020).

Taking into account that food loss and waste have different meanings, it is known that food loss occurs more in developing countries, while food waste occurs more in developed countries (Dölekoğlu, 2017;). These high-income countries waste almost as much food annually as the entire net food production of Sub-Saharan Africa (FAO, 2019). The cost of wasted food in developed countries is $680 billion annually, while this figure is $310 billion in developing countries. Every year, 45% of the wasted food consists of fruits and vegetables, 35% of fish and seafood, 30% of grains, 20% of dairy products, and 20% of meat and poultry. As mentioned, food loss and waste vary from country to country along the food supply chain. Since the level of development varies for each country, the effects of food loss and waste also differ.

While there may be uncertainty regarding the precise measurement of food loss and waste, the magnitude of loss and waste in some countries is significant. For example, in the United States, approximately 40 million tons of food are wasted each year. In total, 43% of all food is wasted. It is known that the cost of this amount for the entire country exceeds $161 billion annually. Although calculating for European Union (EU) countries is difficult due to the lack of consistent data, it is known that approximately 47 million tons of food, amounting to 98 billion euros, are discarded annually. In the UK, household food waste accounts for 70% of all edible food waste. This amount implies that 4.5 million tons of food, which could have been eaten, are wasted every year (IFCO, 2020). On one hand, South Africa, struggling with poverty and hunger, has an average of 7.7 million tons of food loss and waste annually (Adenuga et al., 2020).

Who is responsible for food waste?

Waste that occurs in homes: 42% (60% of this is easily preventable). Food producers: 39%. Retailers: 5%. Catering sector: 14% (Source: European Commission).

We can take several measures to prevent food loss and waste:

  • Education and awareness: education and awareness campaigns can be organized to teach consumers about the harms of food waste and methods of conservation.

  • Proper inventory management: stores, restaurants, and food producers can prevent unnecessary purchases and overproduction by improving inventory management.

  • Date tracking and discounts: markets and supermarkets can reduce waste by offering discounts on products approaching their expiration dates.

  • Improved storage and transportation conditions: providing suitable conditions for the storage and transportation of agricultural products can reduce spoilage and losses.

  • Food donation and recycling: recycling methods, such as donating fresh but unsold food to food banks or using it as animal feed, can reduce waste.

  • Campaigns and incentives: governments can offer incentives or organize campaigns to encourage businesses and consumers to reduce food waste.

  • Use of agricultural technologies: modern agricultural technologies can increase harvest efficiency and reduce product loss.

  • Collaboration and partnership: collaboration and partnership among producers, suppliers, retailers, and consumers are essential to reducing food loss and waste.

These measures can support efforts to reduce food loss and waste and can be applied effectively.

To sum up, the food issue is a serious problem that requires everyone's contribution. The possibility that the difficulties future generations will face may arise from our unconscious consumption troubles me. Therefore, I believe we should start raising awareness about this issue and educating others wherever possible. I hope that by working together, we can overcome this problem!