Meet The Most Food Sustainable Countries: France Leads while US, UK stumble

Every year, consumers in France waste 67.2kg of food per person compared to 95.1kg in the United States, 87.1kg in Belgium and 78.2kg in Canada, Koehring said.

In addition, France is pressing ahead for an Agroecology policy, which its agriculture ministry says “aims to shift agriculture towards the objective of combining economic, environmental and social performance.”

Globally, a third of all food produced is wasted every year, which amounts to a loss of almost $1 trillion, according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization.

Critics say this is not only unethical in a world where hunger levels are rising, but also environmentally destructive. If the population follows the same trajectory, we will need to feed up to 9 billion people by 2050, and the agriculture sector will need to produce about 50% more food. To make feeding possible in the future, we’ll need a coordinated effort that benefits from the wisdom of farmers while engaging with manufacturers, consumers and every part of the food system while also limiting our food wastage in order to become food sustainable.

In the developing world too, food wastage is assuming serious proportions, not just because of cultural issues, but also due to lack of infrastructure like cold storage etc.  Even as countries like Pakistan have clamped down by steps like limiting guests to weddings etc, in India too, local level is growing, and we are beginning to see some efforts to control waste.  A tropical climate where cooked food becomes unfit for consumption relatively faster does not help, so clearly the efforts have to be made at the preparatory stage only. Besides that, as the cold chain improves from farm to fork, one can hope for a massive improvement in food wastage levels.