Globally, about one-third of food is lost or wasted. Reducing food loss and waste presents an opportunity to promote more sustainable commodity consumption by minimizing the “waste” of agricultural land, water, and other agricultural inputs and processes associated with greenhouse gas emissions, thereby reducing the pressure on agricultural systems to expand to meet growing demand. Governments can motivate efforts to reduce food loss and waste across supply chains through a variety of actions such as developing and implementing national strategies to reduce food loss and waste; providing funding to support the adoption of new technologies and practices; standardizing food date labeling; changing laws to facilitate food donation and food waste diversion; and supporting education campaigns for farmers and consumers. The number of countries implementing large-scale policies or plans to reduce food loss and waste has increased substantially in recent years, from countries representing 14% of the global population at the end of 2018 to countries representing 35% of the global population by the end of 2021. 

Globally, about one-third of food is lost or wasted. Reducing food loss and waste presents an opportunity to promote more sustainable commodity consumption by minimizing the “waste” of agricultural land, water, and other agricultural inputs and processes associated with greenhouse gas emissions, thereby reducing the pressure on agricultural systems to expand to meet growing demand. Governments can motivate efforts to reduce food loss and waste across supply chains through a variety of actions such as developing and implementing national strategies to reduce food loss and waste; providing funding to support the adoption of new technologies and practices; standardizing food date labeling; changing laws to facilitate food donation and food waste diversion; and supporting education campaigns for farmers and consumers. The number of countries implementing large-scale policies or plans to reduce food loss and waste has increased substantially in recent years, from countries representing 14% of the global population at the end of 2018 to countries representing 35% of the global population by the end of 2021.