While food waste presents significant challenges, addressing waste also provides an opportunity for growing cities to be more sustainable, say researchers from the World Resources Institute.
Consumers in developed economies waste more food due to the low cost of food relative to disposable income, high standards for the appearance of food, and a lack of understanding of the realities of food production.
For example, some organizations are redistributing food to people in need. Food Bank South Africa rescues more than 4 metric tons of food annually and distributes more than 14 million meals with the help of local non-profits in Cape Town, Johannesburg, and Durban.
Aaryaman Arjun Singhal is an intern and Brian Lipinski is associate in the food programme at the World Resources Institute. This post is republished from WRI’s Insights blog.