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Reducing Food Waste Could Ease Climate Change
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A study conducted by scientists at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research states that reducing food waste would help feed the word’s hungry and mitigate climate change.
The Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations has estimated that 45 percent of fruits and vegetables, 35 percent of seafood, 30 percent of cereals and 20 percent of both meat and dairy products are wasted.
In addition to emitting methane, this food loss also wastes fossil fuel resources, which creates both a humanitarian and environmental issue.
The Christian Science Monitor has the details:
Reducing food waste would not only help feed the world’s hungry, it would also mitigate climate change, say scientists at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) in a study published Thursday.
“Agricultural production in general produces emissions, for example, by land conversion or overuse of fertilizer,” Jurgen Kropp, lead author of the study, tells The Christian Science Monitor in an email. And while “emissions from agriculture cannot be completely avoided,” notes Mr. Kropp, the world overestimates demand, producing far more food than the world could ever consume.
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