Food Loss and Waste

The inefficiency in our food system is extreme but is it really a significant climate issue???

Yes! Our global food system is enormous and requires huge amounts of natural resources to run. Meanwhile 40% of the potentially edible food it produces is discarded or uneaten! That means 40% of the water, agricultural land, fertilizers, and all the energy used for harvesting, shipping, processing, cooling and preparing, currently used from farm to table is also wasted.

On top of that, much of this surplus food ends up in landfills where it then rots and produces methane - a greenhouse gas that causes 80x more warming in our atmosphere than carbon dioxide.  (To learn more about the importance of immediate and dramatic cuts in methane emissions: Yale Experts Explain Methane Emissions - Yale Sustainability).

Project Drawdown estimates that food loss and waste cause roughly 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Meanwhile 14% of North Carolinians don't have enough to eat.

In response to this, ChathamCAN held a community discussion on the intersections of food waste, food loss, food insecurity and climate on October 29th 2024.  We learned about four Chatham-based community efforts making significant local impacts on these issues from different angles:

































A few key takeaways from our discussion on food waste include:
1. Get organics out of our waste stream ASAP.  Diverting food waste and other organic materials from landfills is a low tech, relatively low cost strategy for cutting greenhouse gas emissions that can be done right now. The compost and biogas that can be generated from them are valuable and when they are kept separate from other waste, there is far less contamination to potentially recyclable materials. 
2. Feed people healthy food. We have no lack of food in this country and many hungry, undernourished people. We need policies and practices at every level that support the redistribution of surplus food.
3. Support local farmers. They are key to building a sustainable food system and resilient communities more generally. Creative and sustained efforts to assist farmers in finding reliable markets for their crops is essential to their survival.
4. Public awareness campaigns can make a significant impact. Consumer food habits as well as community composting are two very effective interventions in addressing food waste. 
​
We are fortunate in Chatham county to have many resources for addressing food insecurity and food loss and waste right now. These include the following:

• Food diversion efforts: CORA Food Pantry, West Chatham Food Pantry, Chatham Alliance, Feed Well Fridges, and numerous church-based food pantries,

• Composting infrastructure: Brooks Contractor, Compost NOW, Cooperative Extension

• Informed and engaged personnel in County Solid Waste

• Farmer support: RAFI, Carolina Farm Stewardship Association, Cooperative Extension, Farmer's Markets, Community supported agriculture

​

Some opportunities to further address this important issue locally;

• Working on local and state policies that affect food waste (ie. expiration dates, laws about donating food, requiring all retail food businesses to have a food diversion and composting plans, packaging)

• Getting NC Legislature to refund FarmShare program and starting FarmShare hub in Chatham county

• Organizing to support countywide community composting

• Organizing Green Schools to start composting on a district level

• Consumer education campaigns about practices that reduce food waste and increase food access

• Supporting all local food diversion efforts

• Broad creative coalitions between farmers, food retailers, and community programs

• More outreach with different communities, churches