Harnessing the Power of Plants to Reduce Food Waste
In the past decade, reducing food waste has become one of the most widely embraced strategies for cutting our food system’s carbon emissions, and rightfully so. Current estimates indicate that 8-10% of global greenhouse gas emissions are linked to unconsumed food. Despite the growing focus on food waste as a general concept, little attention is given to the distinction between different types of food waste.
Existing initiatives often treat all food waste uniformly, neglecting a critical factor: the outsized carbon footprint of discarded animal products. While fruits and vegetables account for a larger volume of waste in grocery stores, restaurants, and households, animal products emit more carbon and methane per pound than produce items when decomposing in composts and landfills.
In this post, we’ll take a closer look at the upstream and downstream emissions of animal and plant products, with actionable steps organizations can take to diminish their environmental impact––for both food that’s eaten and food that gets thrown away.
Upstream Waste & Emissions
Upstream waste refers to the processes and inefficiencies associated with food before it is consumed. Animal products have a substantial upstream footprint, from the footprint of the feed inputs, to the greenhouse gasses emitted in production, to refrigeration used during transportation, to water use.
A large part of the upstream footprint is due to the sheer quantity of resources needed to raise the 10 billion animals raised annually in the U.S. The production of 1 lb of chicken uses 5 lbs of feed, typically a mixture of corn, soybean meal, and wheat. Thus discarding a pound of chicken also means wasting the five pounds of feed used in its production, and all of the fertilizer and emissions that went into producing those grains. The upstream impact is even more pronounced for beef, which demands a staggering 12 lbs of feed for every 1 lb of meat.
“Approximately 45% of a slaughtered animal consists of inedible body parts, contributing to further waste and emissions as most of these inedible parts end up in landfills.”
Additionally, the process of animal slaughter generates considerable waste, including blood, carcasses, feathers, and other byproducts. Approximately 45% of a slaughtered animal consists of inedible body parts, contributing to further waste and emissions as most of these inedible parts end up in landfills. In 2019, 77.4 million tons of animal body parts were also wasted throughout the food supply chain. This is equivalent to throwing away approximately 52.4 million tons of bone-free, edible meat, or over 2.4 animals per US citizen.
High Mortality Rates and Environmental Impact
Another cause of significant upstream waste is the high mortality rates pervasive in animal agriculture. For instance, in 2022 broiler chickens experienced a 5.3% premature mortality rate due to illness on farms, resulting in over 500 million chickens dying before reaching the market. This not only indicates persistent suffering for the chickens raised in intensive confinement with rapid and painful growth rates, but also leads to significant waste of the food and water resources invested in them, combined with the emissions of the carcasses that now must be disposed of in landfills.
“In 2022 broiler chickens experienced a 5.3% premature mortality rate due to illness on farms, resulting in over 500 million chickens dying before reaching the market.”
And the issue extends beyond chickens: in 2015 alone, nearly 3.9 million cattle and calves were lost to various causes other than slaughter, contributing to elevated greenhouse gas emissions as their bodies are disposed of via incineration, burial, or composting.
And last but not least, the toll of zoonotic diseases only compounds these challenges further. The current avian flu outbreak has, according to the CDC, resulted in the death of over 82 million poultry birds in the United States since 2022 and the African Swine Virus outbreak has killed hundreds of millions of pigs since 2019. These high mortality rates in animal agriculture exacerbate environmental impacts, amplifying the challenges associated with waste and emissions.
Downstream Food Waste & Emissions
Downstream waste refers to the processes and inefficiencies associated with food after it is disposed of. The food we throw away ends up in landfills or compost, both of which emit greenhouse gasses. And while fruits and vegetables typically account for more waste by volume than animal products in grocery stores, restaurants, and homes, animal products generate more emissions per pound than plant-based products. In fact, when meat decomposes in a landfill, it emits over three times more methane than fruits and vegetables.
Take Action
Reducing food waste is critical to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and creating an efficient global food system. The disproportionate effect of animal products on food waste is evident in both upstream and downstream data. Foodservice providers and institutions have an enormous opportunity to reduce food waste and the associated emissions by prioritizing plant-forward menus. Less meat on menus means less meat wasted.
Serving plant-forward menus not only reduces waste, it aligns with planetary health recommendations, has the potential to foster a more inclusive dining environment, a healthier population, and ultimately can help institutions save money. For valuable insights and assistance, explore our website and resources, and schedule a consultation with Greener by Default today.
Sources
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