Do we know
what we are throwing away?

Among all the issues that we, as residents of Western throwaway society, could address, one topic stands out in particular. Because we could really just do without it. It is also fascinating that we all agree on this issue. What topic are we talking about? It gets right to the heart of the matter. We are focusing on the issue of food waste.

Have you ever had to face a pointless discussion in which someone expressed the opinion that "a third of our food should really end up in the trash!"? Probably not. And yet that is exactly what happens [1]. A third of the food produced worldwide does not end up where it is supposed to, in our stomachs, but is wasted in one way or another.

This is a prime example of something that only the human brain is capable of: we don't want to waste food, but we do it anyway. On a large scale. Psychologists call this phenomenon cognitive dissonance.

Food waste is prevalent across all social classes. Pretty much every Austrian refrigerator regularly yields more or less spoiled items—perhaps with great regret and genuine horror—which are then disposed of in the trash can.

There are many reasons for this: often, our hectic everyday lives cloud our view of perishable items or impulsive purchases. Or we succumb to the siren call of special offers and bulk packs.

As is so often the case, we need a little nudge to free ourselves from this dilemma between "knowing what we want to do" and "doing something else anyway." I hereby invite you to take a gentle "nudge" in the form of memorable images, figures, and comparisons.

To do this, let's take a quick trip to a fictional country. Let's call it "Wastefulistan." In this country, all the food that is produced but never eaten is grown. Because it is too big, too small, not attractive enough, etc. Or because it spoils on its odyssey halfway around the world. Or because it goes bad in stores. Or—and this fate is shared by over half of the food waste in this country [1]—because it ends up in the trash while in our care.

This country is almost as large as Russia [2]. If we wanted to walk across 'Waste Land', it would take us a year. But the amount of water consumed annually in 'Waste Land' is also beyond our imagination: 250 km³ [2]. That is four times higher than the water consumption of the USA.

And at the annual climate negotiations, all eyes would be on the delegates from "Wastefulistan": after all, this country would have the third-highest emissions worldwide, after the US and China [2].

The food that is produced for free every year in "Waste Land" could feed around 2 billion people. Given that almost a billion people worldwide still do not have enough to eat, this is something that probably makes us all shake our heads in disbelief.

If we were able to establish a global food rescue network with as few gaps as possible, the issue of hunger could finally be relegated from the headlines to the history books. This is, in fact, the goal that the United Nations has set for 2030. There is no question that this country should disappear from the map as quickly as possible.

Let's take a brief look back at our everyday reality to see where we could contribute. After all, in Austria alone, approximately 500,000 tons of food waste could be avoided each year [3].

The lion's share of this is definitely attributable to private households: 206,000 tons of avoidable food waste per year [3]. On average, every Austrian throws away a quarter of the food they buy [2]. However, there is an urban-rural divide: urban households throw away far more than rural households [4]. Younger people are also significantly more wasteful with food than older generations.

What is primarily thrown away? Bread and baked goods top the list of discarded foods, followed by vegetables and fruit. Dairy products and eggs take third place, followed by meat and fish [4].

However, out-of-home catering also accounts for a significant amount of avoidable food waste, with 175,000 tons per year resulting from buffet and plate leftovers in restaurants or unserved food in commercial kitchens.

Food waste in the retail sector amounts to around 110,000 tons per year. There is room for improvement when it comes to donating food to social institutions: currently, 6% of food that can no longer be sold is donated across Austria [3].

But there are also heavy losses at the beginning of the value chain. In Central European fields, every third carrot is left behind because it is not aesthetically pleasing enough. A Swiss study also shows how incomplete the chain of complete utilization is, with the result that only 34 (!) out of 100 harvested potatoes are eaten.

And to add to that: let's briefly imagine a herd of 230,000 cattle. This gigantic herd is slaughtered (annually!) in Germany for free, only to ultimately become food waste.

We cannot be indifferent to food waste, whether from an ethical, ecological, or social perspective. Not least, it also harms us economically. Imagine you meet your neighbor in the courtyard in front of the trash cans, wallet in hand. Stunned, you watch him drop one bill after another into the trash can. You would probably try to stop him from doing something so crazy—throwing €300 into the trash can just like that.

But in reality, that's exactly what it amounts to. Every Austrian household throws €300 worth of food in the trash every year – food that is bought but not eaten.

Conclusion: as humanity, we simply cannot afford food waste any longer. The good news is that most of it can be avoided if we implement a combination of legal, aesthetic, and practical measures. The bad news? And this is what makes food rescue so special: there is none. We can probably all agree on that.