Food Waste and Quality of Life

Abstract

FAO affirms that food waste includes every health-safe edible substance which instead of being destined to human consumption is wasted, lost, degraded or consumed by parasites in every step of the food chain. The first arena of waste is agriculture: food is wasted when it is not grown to be harvested, but to obtain subsidies and other financial support instruments from national governments or global organizations. The second step of waste takes place within the processing and packaging industries. This happens because a proportion of the product decays before being processed, or because just some parts of the product are appreciated by the market (meat of fish fillets, chicken drumsticks, etc.), while the rest automatically becomes waste. The waste chain continues at supermarkets, where every product which is not impeccable is removed, even if still perfectly suitable for consumption. The last stage of waste creation takes place in eateries and consumers' homes.