Food waste

An upcoming event in New York will address food loss and food waste; Sweden has come far but is yet far from where it would want to be. 

  • It's estimated that 27% of all food is later thrown away in Sweden - over half of which is still edible. The average family will throw away food for over $1,000 annually. That's in a country which prides itself on recycling more than most (and it does!), where lawmakers have set a goal to make at least 35% of the food waste useable through bio processes...

  • Food waste
    We produce a staggering amount of food waste in the world, be it in Sweden, the U.S. or elsewhere and much of it could still be used.
    Our food system is broken. Some people don't have enough food, while others are eating too much. There's only one way to fix this problem—and it starts with you and me... is the start of FoodTank's (The Food Think Tank) introduction on the web. Whether you adhere to the Malthusian principles of the dangers of population growth or not, our resources are too scarce and too inefficiently used to allow waste.

  • In New York alone, New Yorkers produce a staggering amount of food waste: approximately 600,000 tons a year. Meanwhile, nearly 3 million New Yorkers suffer from food insecurity. In Sweden (population 9.5 million), nobody may suffer from food insecurity but an estimated 900,000 tons of food waste is thrown away every year.

  • To address this dilemma, Food Tank: The Food Think Tank (www.FoodTank.org) will bring together the world’s leading experts on food loss and food waste on September 19, 2013 starting at 5:30PM at the Snapple Theater Center to discuss solutions in New York City and communities all over the globe. Book your tickets for the event here: https://foodtanknewyorkcity.eventbrite.com/ (Copy and paste into browser window if the link doesn't light up)

  • In Sweden, suprprisingly, women throw away most
    Are you a woman in your thirties living in or around Stockholm? Then you are throwing away more food than any other Scandinavian women. You probably feel guilty about it, and your wallet hurts as well. Swedes are, among all Scandinavians, those who throw away most food, while the Danes are the ones who feel most guilty about throwing food away. This according to a study in which 4,000 consumers in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Finland were asked about their habits regarding handling food. In Sweden, nine or ten people said they throw away food one to three times a week, but many throw away food more often than that. Nearly a third let their food end up in the garbage pail as often as four times a week.
    ”In Sweden we have this culture where we go food-shopping once a week, and then we buy a lot, and that’s when there’s this risk that we buy too much and need to throw out food that goes bad,” says Paulina Rytkönen, associate professor in economic history at Södertörn University. According to the study, which was commissioned by Siemens, the habit of throwing away food differs according to age, gender, and where in Sweden you live. People in Stockholm and Småland are worst, and women throw away more food than men, and worst are those in the 30-39 age bracket. Women also feel more guilt than men for throwing away food. Four out of ten don’t want to throw out food because of financial reasons, while 22% say it’s because of the environment. According to the UN, a third of all the food in the world is neglected because of producers, traders, and consumers. ”It’s a terrible waste! We must begin to educate the consumers in these issues, and perhaps start with the children. But we must also create a a framework that makes it easier for consumers to take care of food that’s getting old,” says Rytkönen.