Facts about food waste you need to know

If you are mindful of your surroundings, you probably know that we, as humanity, waste a lot of food. However, you’ll most likely still be shocked while reading the following facts about food waste. As such, we want to point out that our goal is not to spread negativity. Hence, we ask you to take these facts as the motivation to take the necessary action to help reduce food waste in any way you can.

As you probably already know, the best way to reduce food waste is to reduce production and increase its efficiency. To shop for our groceries mindfully and with a shopping list. To organize our food storage properly, and to prepare meals so that there are no leftovers. However, all these solutions will take a lot of time to show results. As such, we need another solution that we can use right away. And, this is where bokashi composting enters the scene. Though, before we tell you more about this ancient solution, let’s look at some shocking facts about food waste.

Shocking facts about food waste

• The amount of food we produce is more than enough to feed everyone. At the first glance, this fact doesn’t seem to be about food waste; however, if you proceed to the following facts, you’ll see that it is probably the most important one. If nothing else, it tends to be the most surprising of the facts about food waste.

• We lose or waste about one-third of all produced food, which sums to approximately 1.3 billion tonnes of food waste yearly. Despite the fact that we produce enough food to feed everyone, after wasting 33% of that, every tenth person remains malnourished. When it comes to fruits and veggies, the stats are even worse - we waste about half of it.

• Food waste costs the global economy nearly $940 billion each year. That exceeds the yearly budget of most countries in the world.

• Food waste is estimated to result in up to 10% of global greenhouse gasses. This number makes the greenhouse gasses (GHSs) from the food that is produced but not eaten one of the leading contributors to enhanced global warming. For comparison, flying is responsible for 1.9%, plastic production of plastic for 3.8%, and oil extraction for 3.8% of GHG emissions. Nonetheless, if food waste was a country, it would be the third biggest emitter of GHGs (after the USA and China).
• As the food rots in landfills, it releases methane, which is 28 times more potent than CO₂. This fact about food waste is one of the main reasons why wasted food has such a powerful negative effect on enhanced global warming.

• When we waste one hamburger, we waste the same amount of water as with a 90-min shower. Water is one of the most precious resources in the world and we must do the best we can to use it responsibly. And, since basically, every food uses water in some way to be produced, every time we waste food we also waste water.
  

Facts about food waste are not set in stone

Luckily, facts about food waste are not set in stone, and we can do quite a lot to improve them. Moreover, since food waste has such an important impact, it comes with a bright side - by greatly reducing the amount of food we waste, we can greatly address the climate change crisis. As such, we must all commit to improving the above-presented facts about food waste. And, as pointed out in the introduction, the first step is to reduce production and improve the efficiency of the entire supply chain. However, since there will always be some food waste, it also makes sense to start repurposing it right now. This is where bokashi composting makes a world of difference. This composting method is the most user-friendly, the most environmentally friendly, and the most efficient way of converting food waste into new resources. Why?

Well, bokashi composting is done with quality, airtight composting bins, such as Bokashi Organko composters. Thus, it emits close to zero GHG. It also doesn’t attract flies and other pests. Moreover, bokashi composting doesn’t involve any unpleasant smell. Moreover, it turns out that room temperature is the most suitable for bokashi composting. All this makes bokashi composting the ultimate indoor composting solution - the one every household can implement right away.

Improving facts about food waste together

All-in-all, all a household needs to start improving facts about food waste is a reliable indoor composter and bokashi bran. The latter is first sprinkled on the bottom of the bin and then on top of every fresh batch of organic waste. As the fermentation process takes place, the organic waste gets converted into the bokashi cake and bokashi liquid. The former is the main product of the process and serves as a quality pre-compost mass. And, the latter is the side product, which is a great natural fertilizer when diluted with water in a 1:200 ratio. Moreover, even if the main and the side product of bokashi composting are not used, the user automatically reduces the volume of the waste by 25%. To learn more details about bokashi composting, make sure to enroll in our free Bokashi Academy.  

Every household with its own garden can use the resources produced by the bokashi composition to convert them into new food. However, many households in urban areas do not have that option. For them, it's extra important to start forming responsible communities. As such, they can collect bokashi cakes in an organized manner and ensure that this pre-composting mass gets utilized by local farmers. And this is the ultimate way of closing the #bokashiloop.

We hope that the above facts about food waste inspired you to take the necessary action:

1. Reduce food waste.
2. Start using bokashi composting to convert food waste into new resources.
3. Use bokashi resources yourself or help form responsible communities.

By following these three steps, we can together ensure that facts about food waste become a lot less shocking.