Today is World Food Day

The goal of this year's celebration is to raise awareness of the need to provide enough nutritious food for all people, especially in the face of problems such as climate change, conflict and economic crises. On this day, we are directing attention to raising awareness of the global problems of hunger, food security, food waste and taking action to solve them.

Food production involves a huge consumption of natural resources, energy and human labor, and wasting food causes losses not only economically, but also ecologically. The planet has limited resources, while UN projections indicate that in 2050 the global population will reach 9.7 billion people. People who will need to be fed.

Food (and its waste) in Poland

Poland is a self-sufficient country in the production of basic agricultural goods, such as grain, meat and dairy products, and our country's food security is not threatened. The key factors contributing to this state of affairs are diversified agricultural production, a strong food industry, growing exports and a positive foreign trade balance, and an effective food distribution system. Nonetheless, according to the latest research, which IOŚ-PIB is conducting as part of Poland's reporting to the European Commission and which was published by Eurostat on September 27, 2024, 4.5 million tons of food waste were generated in Poland in 2022, and wasted food exceeded 4.8 million tons. Most, as much as 56% of this waste comes from households, which means that consumers are the biggest contributors - each Pole wastes an average of 123 kg of food per year, 69 kg/person is generated in households.

However, that's not all. Wasted food in Poland is responsible for about 13 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions in eq CO2.

European Union wastes no time on food waste issue

Waste is a problem facing the European Union. According to Feedback EU's "No Time To Waste" report, the Community wastes more food than it imports - up to 153.5 million tons of food per year, according to estimates. To combat this, the European Union has made it mandatory for all member countries to reduce food waste by 50% by 2030.

The result? Although countries have taken steps to reduce food waste, their level of ambition and results vary widely. The European Commission, in order to increase the effectiveness of the measures, is proposing legislative solutions, including an amendment to Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of November 19, 2008. What will this mean for Poland? Reducing the amount of food waste generated at the processing stage by 55,000 tons and at subsequent stages: trade and consumption by a total of 980,000 tons.

On World Food Day, let's talk about food waste

World Food Day is a good opportunity to draw public attention to the problem of food waste, wasted resources and climate impacts. It's also a time to point out how big the social dimension of this problem is. On the one hand, 10% of the food available to consumers in the EU ends up in the trash, while on the other hand, 37 million people in the EU cannot afford to eat a full meal at least every other day.

Reducing food loss and waste is widely recognized as a key way to address the challenges of global food security, global warming, protecting natural resources and ecosystems, and ensuring access to food for those in need.

Each of us can join in the celebration of World Food Day and work to improve the food situation in Poland and around the world by:

• Reducing food waste in one's daily life,
• Supporting local producers and choosing sustainable products,
• Raise awareness and educate others about not wasting, respecting food and the earth's resources,
• Engage in charitable activities and support hunger relief organizations.

We cannot be indifferent, as each of us bears responsibility. Together, we can change habits and attitudes toward food to reduce waste and improve the food situation around the world.

Dr. Sylwia Laba, IOŚ-PIB expert

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