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The IPCC's Special Report on Climate Change and Land, released earlier this month, reveals that a staggering 25 to 30 per cent of food produced worldwide is lost or wasted along the food supply chain.
'Reducing this loss and waste,' the report argues, 'would reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve food security.'
"Everyone has a part to play in solving this problem, and food waste is the most obvious thing where individuals can make a difference," UNE scientist and report co-author Professor Annette Cowie said.
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In developing countries, much of the loss occurs at the production end due to poor storage or transport processes. When it comes to developed countries like Australia, most of the waste is our fault.
We buy more than we need, and it decomposes at the back of the fridge. We cook more than we need, and forget to eat leftovers. We order more food in a restaurant than we need.
"We just waste a lot of food," Professor Cowie said. "This is obviously a waste of resources, land, and inputs that were used to produce it in the first place, or the energy that goes into processing transport, storage, and cooking it."
During 2010-2016, the report stated, global food loss and waste contributed 8 to 10 per cent of total human-produced greenhouse gas emissions.
If food waste ends up in landfill, Professor Cowie explained, it decomposes in a reduced oxygen environment, and produces methane - 30 times worse as a heat-trapping gas than carbon dioxide.
She recommends that food waste be composted; fed to chickens; or used to make biogas, then put back into the land as fertilizer. Even human biosolids (treated sewage sludges) can be used on farm land.
"It's all about closing the gap," Professor Cowie said. "The circular economy [a system to eliminate waste and continually reuse resources] is what we need."
She recommends that readers plan both their food purchases, using a shopping list, and their leftovers. People should also put food scraps in the compost instead of the garbage bin.
"Here in Armidale," Professor Cowie said, "we're lucky that we have the City to Soil program."
Armidale Regional Council gave all residents a MaxAir food scraps bin and compostable biobags. Council will then turn these into compost, and put them on soils and gardens.
This, the council's website explains, increases soil carbon (humus), beneficial soil microbes and fungi, and greater nutrient cycling. Soil carbon also helps plants to grow, as soil can hold more water.
Professor Cowie is adjunct professor at UNE's School of Environmental and Rural Science, and principal climate research scientist at the NSW Department of Primary Industries. She is task leader of an International Energy Agency Bioenergy research network; land degradation advisor on the Scientific and Technical Advisory Panel of the Global Environment Facility; and a member of the Science Policy Interface of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification.