Reducing environmental impacts in the food chain for sustainable development of megacities

Abstract

Today about a third of food produced for human consumption in the world is lost or wasted. The huge amounts of resources used for food production are wasted and the carbon footprint of food that was produced and lost reaches 3.3 billion tons of CO2 per year. In monetary terms, the losses are estimated at $7.5 trillion. The importance of reducing food loss and wastage is reflected in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and commits to cut in a half food waste. Based on the available statistics, the paper analyses the food losses in the food chain as well as related environmental impacts and possible economic savings.