Humans will continue to live in an era of incredible food waste

Let me start with the following principle.Energy is the only universal currency. one of its many forms must be transformed to get anything doneEconomies are simply complex systems designed to make these conversions, and all economically significant energy conversions have (often highly undesirable) environmental effects. Therefore, as far as the biosphere is concerned, the best anthropogenic energy conversions are those that never occur they don’t have emissions of gases (whether they are greenhouse or acidic), generation of solid or liquid waste, destruction of ecosystems. without their widespread use (be it in large diesel and jet engines, combined cycle gas turbines, light emitting diodes, steel smelting or ammonia synthesis. ) we would have to convert significantly more primary energy with all the environmental consequences.

Conversely, what could be more wasteful, more undesirable, and more irrational than to deny most of the benefits of transformation by wasting them. Buildings consume about one fifth of all global energybut due to inadequate wall and ceiling insulation, single-glazed windows, and poor ventilation, they waste at least one-fifth to one-third of that space compared to well-designed interiors at least a third more energy is needed.

The most offensive of these wasteful practices is our food production. The modern food system (from the energy used in breeding new varieties, synthesizing fertilizers and other agrochemicals, and making field machinery, to harvesting, transporting, processing, storing, retailing, and preparing) claims: 20 percent of the world’s fuel and primary electricity— and we waste as much as 40 percent of all produced food, some food waste is unavoidable; The prevailing food waste, however, is more than defenseless. It is criminal in many ways.

Fighting it is difficult for many reasons. First, there are many ways to waste food, from field losses to spoilage in storage, from perishable seasonal surpluses to stocking “perfect” store displays, from over-portioning to the decline of home cooking.

Second, food now goes a long way before reaching consumers. is the average distance traveled by a typical food item 1500 to 2500 miles before buying.

Third, it remains extremely cheap in relation to other expenses.Despite recent increases in food prices, households now spend only approx 11 percent their disposable income from food (in 1960 it was about 20 percent). Food costs away from home (usually worse than eating at home) now account for more than half of that total.And finally, as consumers, we have too much food choice; Just consider that the average American supermarket is now more 30,000 food items.

Our society appears to be content with wasting nearly 20% of all energy spent on food.In 2025, unfortunately, this staggering level of waste will not receive more attention. In fact, the situation will only get worse. While we pour billions into energy “solutions,” from new nuclear reactors (even fusion!) to green hydrogen, all of which carry their own environmental burdens, in 2025 we will continue to fail to address the enormous waste food is required to produce was so much fuel and electricity.