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Addressing Food Waste Plays a Role in Ending Hunger

on  March 30, 2021

Think about what food you’ve thrown away in the last 24 hours. In the last week. In the last month. Try not to cringe. We waste a lot of food, and it is something we all should pay attention to. As Rise Against Hunger is driven by the vision of a world without hunger, it’s important for our organization to be aware of and talk about both food loss and waste. Food loss can occur during production, storage, processing and distribution within the food system. Food waste takes place when, for example, you buy too many containers of mushrooms because they’re on sale, then open the fridge eight days later to a funky smell and realize you shoved those mushrooms in a corner and forgot all about them. Did you know that food loss and waste play a part in the availability, access and utilization required to achieve food security? It’s true!One-third of the global food production is wasted every year. That’s four times what it would take to relieve undernutrition worldwide. This pervasive issue is even included in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, directly tying in to the work we do here at Rise Against Hunger as we also support the Sustainable Development Goals. UN Sustainable Development Goal #12 is Responsible Consumption and Production, and of its objectives is to halve per capita food waste globally. This would also have an impact in Rise Against Hunger’s work to end hunger. If countries, including the United States, support and work toward the reduction of their food loss and waste, we could see huge improvements in global hunger! Our population is projected to reach 8.1 billion in 2025 with 95% of that growth in low and middle income countries. While we are producing enough food to feed everyone, the poor practices in the food system are cause for massive food waste and thus contribute to global food insecurity.

This graphic shows the breakdown of how much food is lost or wasted in different regions of the world.
While 820 million people face hunger globally, $750 billion is lost as a result of wasted food every year. Countries of low and middle income status are overall at much higher risk for food loss from a lack of post-harvest preservation techniques, including in areas where we work. For example, in South Sudan, all of the mangoes are harvested in two months. Without a way to preserve them through the year, half of the harvest is lost. Poor infrastructure, sensitivity to climate shocks, inadequate transport systems, technology and storage and drought-induced pest infestations are also main drivers for the loss of food.But guess what? You – and other Hunger Champions – can help address the issue of food waste. In the US, 21% of all food is lost at the consumer level. That means the food in our fridge made it through a journey of harvesting, processing, transport and selection only to rot in our kitchen. Don’t be discouraged: while that number is significant, it also means we as consumers have power to make a difference! We can adopt better habits around food planning, shopping and preparation (illustrated in the image below from the Food and Agriculture Organization).We can also request and advocate for changes in the food industry, such as more clearly defined expiration date labels and policies that require food retailers to donate their extra food. We can educate other consumers on food waste consequences and tips for reducing waste. And, last but certainly not least, we can also push for legislation and infrastructure changes locally, nationally and internationally that address the parts of the food system where the highest amount of food is currently being lost or wasted.If we all do our part, we can make progress towards reducing global food waste and reducing global hunger at the same time!Sources:https://eatdrinkbetter.com/2016/02/10/food-recovery-act/FAO and World Resources InstituteWorld BankBirney, C.I., Franklin, K.F., Davidson, F.T., Webber, M.E. An assessment of individual foodprints attributed to diets and food waste in the United States. Environmental Research Letters. Vol 12:10. October 17, 2017. Retrieved from http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aa8494Dangour, A.D., Mace, G., Shankar, B. Food systems, nutrition, health and the environment. The Lancet Planetary Health. Vol 1:1. April 2017.Economist Intelligence Unit. Fixing Food 2016: Towards a more sustainable food system. 2016. Retrieved from http://foodsustainability.eiu.com/whitepaper/Taillie, L.S., Jaacks, L.M., Toward a Just, Nutritious, and Sustainable Food System: The False Dichotomy of Localism versus Supercentrism. The Journal of Nutrition. Vol 145:7. July 2015. Retrieved from https://academic.oup.com/jn/article/145/7/1380/4644404

About the Author

Chelsie Azevedo, MPH, RD is the Nutrition Technical Advisor for Rise Against Hunger. She advances the nutrition vision of the organization and advises on programs related to nutrition security.

More Posts by Chelsie Azevedo

Strength, Stability And Hope

The gift that filled Nelly’s table.

“We were yielding very little, and the crops could not sustain us the whole year,” Nelly remembers. As a mother of seven and a farmer with two decades of experience, the stress of inconsistent yields was all-consuming. A poor harvest not only strained her family financially, but also limited their own meals to just two a day. Their story reflects that of many in their fishing and farming village near a lake in the Karonga district of northern Malawi. Here, heavy rainfall makes conventional farming methods nearly impossible. The entire village is, quite literally, saturated in food insecurity — a reality that leaves families struggling to survive season after season without a dependable source of nourishment.

In 2019, Nelly began participating in Harvesting Prosperity and Resilience, a sustainable agriculture project implemented by Rise Against Hunger in partnership with the Foundation for Community Support Services (FOCUS). The project works with 3,100 smallholder farmers in Malawi’s Karonga and Mzimba districts to strengthen food and nutrition security by improving production methods, nutrition practices and household income.

Just one year later, Nelly was ready to expand the variety of crops on her farm. What land once only produced maize began to flourish with sesame, cowpeas, rice and groundnuts during the rainy season (summer), as well as maize and vegetables during the dry season (winter). Through climate-smart agriculture training, she learned new techniques like manure making, pit planting and mulching, crop rotation and intercropping. Equipped with these tools, Nelly’s farm began to thrive.

After the 2023–2024 growing season, she sold enough produce to purchase an ox cart. Her harvests in 2024-2025 season yielded over 500 pounds of crops, including 22 bags of groundnuts, seven bags of maize, 12 tins of sesame and three bags of rice. With this surplus, she was able to invest in a motorbike, which she now uses to transport African doughnuts (mandasi) that she cooks and sells — creating yet another source of income for her family.

The transformation reaches far beyond her finances. Nelly now has the stability to provide for her husband and children. “I am able to eat different food types, pay school fees for my children and fulfill the visions that I have made with my family,” she beams. “I am now sleeping peacefully without any fears of food or paying school fees for the children.”

Her leadership has also grown. Today, Nelly serves as a leader in the Harvesting Prosperity and Resilience project, teaching other farmers in her district to adopt climate-resilient, labor-saving practices. By sharing her knowledge, she is multiplying her impact — empowering her neighbors to experience the same transformation she has achieved.

Across Nelly’s community, food and economic security are on the rise. Lombani, a government extension officer for the region, explains, “I can see the community is being transformed in the sense that in the area, there is food, income and nutrition security. Development is also happening at the household level.”

Nelly reflects on what it means to invest in holistic programs that address the root causes of hunger: “We are now healthy people. Children are going to school after eating their breakfast, having high yields and different types of crops due to conservation agriculture practices. With the support from the project, we have food, and we can access other food items from the market after selling our produce.”

This is the gift that fills: a future full of stability, strength and hope. It fills tables with food, families with security and communities with the resources to thrive. It’s an investment in futures rooted in resilience and hope.