Hero video
Food wastage footprint
 
Video by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

The Global Cost of Food Wastage

Beth Watts —

Investigate the impact of food wastage on a global scale on our planet and economies and how big industries and governments could help reduce the wastage. 

Your Challenge:

To investigate the different ways food wastage on a global scale is affecting our planet and the world’s economies and what big industries and governments could do to reduce the wastage.

Follow this Process:

  1. Watch these two video clips on the global food wastage footprint:

  2. Research how much food is wasted globally on an annual basis and what the impacts of this are on the environment and the economy. How could this be reduced? What could the various industries involved, from growers all the way through to the final retailer, do to reduce the amount of food wasted and its impact?

  3. Discuss your findings where you think the biggest wastage is and how you think this could be reduced. Did it surprise you how much food is wasted before it even reaches your supermarket’s shelves?

  4. Summarize your findings in a report (presentation, video, etc) to present back to the class and/or school and via this website.

  5. Take action by deciding how you can use your new-found knowledge to raise awareness in others.

  6. Capture and share these outcomes using photo and/or video and post on this site to educate others.

Educator Notes

To make this more challenging:

  • Incorporate statistics on food wastage for students - try this site to start you off: ourworldindata.org > Food
  • Get students to do some research to figure out how much food is wasted over a week in their homes. Do some estimation about how much food the entire school wastes.
  • Get students to do some research into how much food is wasted at local retailers (eg. supermarkets, bakeries, etc.).

To make this more accessible:

  • Get students to do some research to figure out how much food is wasted over a week in their homes.
  • Combine this information across the class and do some estimation about how much food the entire school wastes.

Useful links

Additional videos: