This national food waste picture aligns with data from the Food Sustainability Index from The Economist's Intelligence Unit, which ranks Australia as the fourth biggest food waster in the world, behind the USA in the number one spot, Canada and Belgium.
With each person binning nearly 300 kilograms of food a year, Australia still sits in fourth position on the global food wastage rank.
Food waste produced annually in selected countries worldwide 2020. China and India produce more household food waste than any other country worldwide at an estimated 92 million and 69 million metric tons every year, respectively.
70% of the 7.6 million tonnes of food wasted in Australia every year is edible. Australian households throw away around one in five bags of groceries, equal to around 312kg per person.
Each year about 7.6m tonnes of food is wasted in Australia between paddock and plate – with up to 25% of all vegetables produced never leaving the farm, often because they are not shaped perfectly enough for supermarket shelves.
According to government data, young people aged between 18-24 and families with young children are the biggest wasters of food.
Australia's food system is unsustainable. We are using non-renewable, polluting resources to produce food, which is degrading land and water systems. More than 2.5 million Australians are living in poverty, with many unable to access enough healthy food.
According to statistics from FoodWise, Australians discard up to 20% of the food they purchase. That's four million tonnes, or roughly 140kg per person of food going to landfill each year.
This extrapolates to a total of 3 million whole fruit pieces, 1.3 million packaged food items and 3.5 million whole sandwiches discarded each year in schools across the state.
Because of its strict zero food waste policies, sustainable agricultural practices, and the healthy eating habits of its people, France has retained the top spot in the Food Sustainability Index, a study of 34 countries by The Economist Intelligence Unit and the Barilla Center for Food & Nutrition Foundation.
France. France is a leader when it comes to attacking food waste at the legislative level. In 2016, the country made it illegal for retailers to throw food away, and instead compels them to partner with NGOs to redistribute the food to those in need.
Australian households waste 2.5 million tonnes of food each year, or more than 4kg per household per week. Organic material makes up about 50% of a what is in the average household wheelie bin.
In 2020-21, the three largest sources of waste were building and demolition (25.2 mega tonnes), organics (14.4 mega tonnes), and ash from C&I electricity generation (12 mega tonnes).
FoodForward SA recovers edible surplus food at various stages of the food value chain and redistributes it to communities in need across the country. Woolworths actively encourages its food suppliers to redirect their food surplus to any charities of choice in their community.
Food Recycle is an Australian technology start-up that was founded to tackle the global problem of food waste. The company has a patented and patent pending technology to convert any commercial food waste into high performance animal feeds.
Here are few simple ways to reduce and manage food wastes in restaurants. Households are the major contributors to food waste globally. It is estimated approximately 40%-50% of food waste occurs at the consumer stage.
Over 30% of food is lost or wasted each year. This number is even more striking, given the large number of hungry people in the world. Wasted food is not only inefficient, it's a social justice issue. Global food waste has an enormous environmental impact, too.
Australia is one of the most food secure nations in the world, with access to a wide variety of healthy and nutritious foods. Australia is one of the most food secure countries in the world, for several reasons. Australia produces much more food than it consumes, exporting around 70% of agricultural production.
Australia's exports are estimated to feed around 36.6 million people. When you add this figure to the population of the country, this means that Australian farmers feed around 61 million people overall. Breaking the figures down further, each Australian farmer produces sufficient food for 600 people for one year.
Water scarcity, heat stress and increased climatic variability in our most productive agricultural regions, such as the Murray Darling Basin, are key risks for our food security, economy, and dependent industries and communities.
Two in five food insecure Australians (41%) have not paid bills in order to have enough money to buy food. The experience of food insecurity is incredibly challenging and can cause a significant decline in quality of life for individuals and families.