• At household level, nearly 61 per cent of food goes into waste bins, the reports states.

• Food waste has social, environmental and economic impacts.

• Hunger affected 690 million in 2019, according to the United Nations.

In an eye-opening revelation, Indian households waste 50 kilograms of food per person per year, according to the United Nations Environment Programme’s Food Waste Index Report 2021.

The latest Food Waste Index Report, released this Thursday (March 4), estimates that 931 million metric tons (or 17 per cent) of the food available for consumption worldwide in 2019 was wasted by homes, institutions, retail outlets and restaurants. Homes are responsible for most of the food waste. Nearly 61 per cent of consumer-level food goes into waste bins each year at the household level, the report states.

Food waste  in South Asian homes

The report notes that food waste at the consumer level happens in almost every country, regardless of income level. In South Asia, while 50 kilograms of food is wasted per person each year at household level in India, 65 kilograms of this happening in Bangladesh, 74 kilograms in Pakistan, 76 kilograms in Sri Lanka, 79 kilograms in Nepal and 82 kilograms in Afghanistan.

Impacts of food waste

Food waste has serious social, environmental and economic impacts. “Reducing food waste would cut greenhouse gas emissions, slow the destruction of nature through land conversion and pollution, enhance the availability of food and thus reduce hunger and save money at a time of global recession,” said Inger Andersen, UNEP Executive Director. “If we want to get serious about tackling climate change, nature and biodiversity loss, and pollution and waste, businesses, governments and citizens around the world have to do their part to reduce food waste,” he added.