FY2024 GFN Annual Report Nourshing People and Planet - Flipbook - Page 13
Reducing Food Loss
and Waste and
Harmful Emissions
Nearly a third of the world’s food is lost
or wasted at the post-harvest, retail,
and consumer levels, never reaching
the people who need it. Food loss and
waste proves costly for producers, takes
up space in landfills, and emits harmful
greenhouse gases, intensifying climate
change. In fact, 8 to 10 percent of all
greenhouse gas emissions are generated
by food loss and waste. Those emissions
worsen the effects of climate change,
making it more difficult to grow and
access food.
Food banks offer an effective solution to
this problem—partnering with producers
and actors at all stages of the supply
chain to recover wholesome surplus
food and redirecting it to people facing
hunger. GFN and our partners work
hard to find innovative solutions and
build partnerships to address these
global challenges and create a more
sustainable food system. GFN also began
a multi-year research project to better
understand the potential for food banks
to reduce waste and harmful methane
emissions, including pilot projects in six
countries to study the methane emissions
avoided through food bank programs.
In 2023 ...
>> 1.8 million
metric tons of CO2e were
avoided, the equivalent of
taking more than 400,000 cars
off the road for a year.
>> 35 million
kilograms of produce were
recovered through agricultural
recovery programs, which
increase the amount of fruits
and vegetables recovered
from farms and reduce
greenhouse gas emissions
from postharvest waste.
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