It is the story of a miracle that begins invisibly

at the heart of a seed.

This miracle needs:

AND

AND

AND

...the patient labor of farmers who work the soil,

steward the water

and help the seed to flourish.

Food is the result of a long journey, from the farmer to our homes. This journey - the supply chain - uses enormous quantities of the Earth’s resources. At our dinner table we enjoy the miracle. Tradition and good cooking produce taste, nourishment, joy, passion, life. Yet we throw away so much of our food! Loads of it! And with it we throw away all the precious resources that are key to producing it.

FAO, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, estimates that every year, of all the food produced for human consumption in the world, one-third does not reach our stomachs.

This means that every year we throw away

one thousand six hundred million tonnes of food, 80% of which is edible food!

Notice  that 345 million tonnes of food are wasted at the consumer level every year. But this is a global figure. To make more sense of it, let's take a closer look and break it down geographically and per person. Let's see how you and I may fit in!

Here is how those 345 million tonnes of food wasted globally look per person, for different regions of the world:

Important if we want to meet the growing food demand of the 21st century, important if we want to fight hunger and malnutrition, important if we want to take care of our planet and have a good life!

This ‘land grabbing’ is part of a wider trend of resource grabbing fed by governments, transnational corporations and financial institutions. Its impact is often harmful: people are displaced, land is taken away from local communities, rights of access denied, water supplies and local environments are adversely affected by large-scale agricultural methods.

Wasting food helps feed the forces of resource grabbing. Resource grabbing feeds the fed not the hungry.

Yes, become a minister of food waste! We have great power in our hands, the power of our preferences and our choices, the power of our habits and behavior. We can use this power to tackle food waste and its negative consequences. We can use this power to choose more responsibly the food we buy, to support our local markets, to have a meat-free day once a week.  It does not matter how small our single actions are, it is the sum of them that will make a difference.

Become a minister of food waste at home and engage your family!

Plan your meals, be in control of what you have in your cupboards and fridge, get skilled at making the right portions, use leftovers in creative ways, store your food properly, monitor how much food you waste every month in order to make your habits visible and set new goals.

Become a minister of food waste at school and engage your classmates and teachers!

Imagine how powerful it would be if the whole school got involved by simply discussing the issue or inviting key players such as farmers or local supermarkets to talk about food waste, by organizing a play on the topic, a music show, a competition to engage parents and other schools.

Become a minister of food waste and engage with your supermarket!

Supermarket beliefs about customer preferences can result in farmers having to waste shocking amounts of the food they grow if it does not meet overly strict cosmetic standards. Tell them you do not mind funny-looking fruit and vegetables, looking funny does not mean tasting bad! Supermarkets have the power to change what happens in the supply chain.

Food is a miracle!

Join us to make sure the miracle is not wasted.

Share this story, download the resources, help us spread the message.

And remember, food is for eating!