Up to half of the food produced worldwide each year is wasted, according to a report from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IME).
The IME blamed the loss on poor storage; strict expiration dates; bulk marketing offers, such as “buy one, get one free”; and poor consumer behavior.
“The amount of food wasted and lost around the world is staggering,” said Tim Fox, head of energy and environment at the scientific group.
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“This is food that could be used to feed the world’s growing population, as well as those in hunger today.”
The IME report estimated between 30 percent and 50 percent of the 4 billion tons of produced globally each year is discarded.
The report also said huge amounts of water were being used to grow crops that were never eaten.
Fox said that in the developing world, the losses tend to occur in the early part of the food chain, between agricultural fields and the marketplace. But in developed economies, the wastage is more likely to occur because of bad marketing practices and consumer negligence.
BBC News interviewed one expert who doubted the accuracy of the report. Toine Timmermans, a Dutch university researcher, said his years of study of the issue concluded the IME’s waste estimate was “unrealistic” and too high.
Americans throw away up to $165 billion worth of food each year, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Huffington Post reported.
Gawain Kripke, a research and policy director for Oxfam America, told the Huffington Post, "Food markets are ultimately linked. So the price of corn in the United States has a big impact on the price of corn in Africa, for example.
"When we're wasting food, it means we're basically taking a resource that can be used to keep other people alive and throwing it away."
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