Editorial | Tackling food waste

According to the UN Environment Programme’s Food Waste Index, in 2024, the average Jamaican household threw out an estimated 88 kilogrammes (194 pounds) of food. Combined, that was over 243,000 tonnes of food waste for the year.

While these figures were broadly consistent with global averages, they represented increases of 22 per cent and 14 per cent, respectively, of the food wasted by individual households and the gross amount that reached garbage cans, when compared with 2022.

But this is not merely a matter of more garbage cans to empty and more waste reaching landfills. It means the people are literally wasting money by not consuming a significant portion of the food they purchase - in a context where Jamaica last year spent over US$1.46 billion to import food.

Looked at another way, the value of the island’s food imports in 2025 was 19 per cent of overall imports. Further, it would have required 88 per cent of what the island earned from merchandise exports to cover its food import bill.

NOT ENTIRETY OF PROBLEM

But the food that households that reach householders’ trash bins is not the entirety of the problem. According to Jamaica’s agricultural officials, an estimated 30 per cent of the island’s agricultural produce doesn’t reach markets and consumers. It is the subject of post-harvest loss. That is billions more Jamaican dollars down the metaphorical drain.

Globally, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization, over $400 billion is lost yearly between harvest and retail stages. Food waste has consequences: it is lost income for farmers, while a meal thrown away in a household is money that could have supported other family needs.

In the midst of the climate crisis and supply chain disruptions caused by wars and other geopolitical tension, the issue of food waste, or its prevention, adds another dimension to the discussions on food security. While producing more food is necessary, ensuring less wastage is equally important.

In countries like Jamaica, apart from efforts to improve agricultural productivity in the field, investments to ensure what is grown actually reaches consumers are also important: cold storage facilities; improved streamlined collection centres; efficient transportation networks, and more. Using digital platforms to strengthen links between producers, the hospitality industry, supermarkets, agro-processors and export markets can help in ensuring that more produce reaches consumers.

PUBLIC EDUCATION

Public education is also important to help drive home to consumers the message against binge shopping, poor meal planning, or the improper storage of foods. Simple measures such as planning shopping lists, understanding labels, serving realistic portions and making better use of leftovers can significantly reduce waste.

Food-waste awareness should be incorporated into nutrition and environmental education programmes, helping children and the wider citizenry to understand the value of food, the resources required to produce it, and the environmental consequences of waste.

But these messages shouldn’t only be for households. Supermarkets, restaurants and hotels can adopt better inventory management, donate safe surplus food through recognised food banks and charities, and explore composting and organic waste recovery where appropriate.

Examples can be adopted from Britain (where householders spend an estimated £15 billion pounds annually on food that goes to waste) and elsewhere in Europe, where retailers and governments are reaching compacts to reduce food waste.

French supermarket chain Carrefour, for example, removes items from shelves that are close to, or have passed, their sell-by dates, but are still perfectly good to eat. They are removed from shelves, repackaged, and sold at low prices.

“We create packs filled with fruit and vegetables, cold meats, and mixed selections that include salad, yoghurts and juice,” said Amina Mohamed Abdou, the deputy manager of a Paris store of Carrefour told state-run RFI. “These packs are priced between three and eight euros, yet they contain products valued at over 20 euros.”

Amid soaring food prices, the anti-waste bundles are in high demand.

There is also an opportunity to rethink how organic waste is managed. Food that cannot be consumed should, wherever possible, be diverted from landfills through composting, biogas production or animal feed, creating additional value while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The bottom line: tackling food waste requires a change in national thinking.