Don’t throw away the food!

I never thought about that… This is what many people I meet say, while looking very thoughtful.

In Sweden, like the rest of the world, we throw away a lot of food. An estimated 20- 25 percent of all food we buy ends up in the garbage bin. Almost 60 percent of this food is being thrown away completely unnecessarily, because we made portions too big, bought too much, failed to handle the leftovers or did not store the food properly.

At the same time we also waste a lot of water, which can sometimes be complicated to understand. If I throw away one portion of meat, several thousands of liters of water may have been used to produce that particular piece of meat. For a potato, probably 25 liters of water have been used to produce it. If it is a Swedish potato it might not be the end of the world since in relative terms, we have a lot of water. But what if instead I throw away an avocado, grown in the Middle East where water is a scarcity and every drop is needed. Instead of ending up in our stomachs to contribute with calories, vitamins, and minerals, the avocado will have robbed the dry Middle East of this water for no reason at all.

When we throw away food, not only do we throw away money. We also waste our possibility to feed a world which within just a few decades will need all food that can be produced. We pointlessly contribute to the eutrophication of our oceans and to the climate change that the food has caused on its way from the field to the waste bin. And by throwing away the food, we also throw away large amounts of water for those who most in need of it. 

by  Louise Ungerth, chef  för Konsument & Miljö, Konsumentföreningen Stockholm