Food is the primary need for every creature in this world, including humans. However, human greed often results in losses, including food. Humans, in their social lifestyle, often buy food beyond their biological needs, such as; buying food that is trendy just because of ‘prestige’, buying food that exceeds their portion size, and the irony is, if the food doesn’t run out, they can easily just throw away the leftover food. The behavior of wasting food is detrimental. Because, leftover food that is wasted will gradually accumulate in the disposal and become food waste which is called food waste.
Reporting from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), food waste is defined as food/food fit for consumption that is wasted either before/after its expiration date. The problem of food waste has become a global concern, because the amount is quite large. 1/3 (one third) of the food produced for human consumption in the world is thrown away as waste.” The amount is around 1.3 billion tons per year. The value of wasted food waste is estimated at USD 680 billion for developed countries and USD 310 billion for developing countries. Meanwhile, 815 million people in the world suffer from hunger. The total waste available can actually support 2 billion people (World Hunger News, 2016). Meanwhile, in our country, Indonesia itself, it is recorded that per person produces 300 kg of food waste every year, p. This is what ultimately makes Indonesia the country with the second largest food waste in the world after Saudi Arabia (The Economist Intelligence Unit, 2016). Based on records provided by the Department of Cleanliness and Parks in one day and night, the Benowo LPA can collect 1,220.15 kg of waste (Sulistyorini, 2006) with 73% being organic waste and the other 27% being inorganic.
CAUSES OF FOOD WASTE
Food waste occurs when edible food is intentionally thrown away by consumers after it has spoiled, passed its expiration date, or is simply thrown away.
Reporting from the UN Environment Program’s (UNEP) Food Waste Index Report 2024, of the 1.05 billion tons of food wasted in 2022, 19% of food came from retail, food services and households, while 13% of food was lost in the supply chain.
The loss/decrease in food quality that occurs at the production stage is mainly caused by lack of skills, natural disasters, lack of adequate infrastructure, and poor practices causing the quality of food products to deteriorate before they reach the hands of consumers. Sometimes, food waste can also occur due to excessive production. Overproduction occurs when restaurants, grocery stores, and other similar establishments order more food than they need, resulting in an increase in the amount of perishable food that is wasted. Additionally, retailers tend to reject many foods because they do not meet quality and aesthetic standards.
THE RELATIONSHIP OF FOOD WASTE WITH THE SGDs MOVEMENT
Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) are a collection of 17 global goals designed to be a blueprint for achieving a better and more sustainable future for all. The SDGs, which were established in 2015 by the UN General Assembly, are expected to be achieved by 2030, as part of UN Resolution 70/1, Agenda 2030. Reducing food waste is one of the SDGs resolutions that will help meet various Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), specifically the 12th goal, namely “By reducing waste, we will also reduce business costs, create social and environmental benefits, and increase consumer savings”.
THE RELATIONSHIP OF FOOD WASTE WITH LOW POLITIC AND HIGH POLITIC ISSUES
There is data obtained from UN Environment which shows that if food waste could be compared with countries in the world the result would be the third largest emitter of greenhouse gases after China and the United States. Food waste contributes to producing methane gas where this gas has the potential to be a greenhouse gas, increasing global warming 34 times more than carbon dioxide gas, high demand on agricultural land which requires clearing trees in forests, and wasting available water supplies. (Jessop, Sparks, and Graham-Rowe 2014). From an international relations perspective, what is released from this data, if we look deeper, there is a common thread that connects the problem of food waste with the issue of low politics, or even high politics.
