Food waste: figures, ideas, projects

From a recent meeting of the Italian Order of Food Technologists, a significant contribution to the proper definition of food waste and a broad glimpse of the many projects already underway. With an eye to the future and thanks from Expo 2015.

In 2050 the world population will reach 9 billion and, according the estimates made by the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), food consumption will be fifteen times higher than current levels. It is therefore essential to rethink the production process, priorities and habits of consumption, taking into due account the extent of food wastage.

Last November 20 academics, technicians and experts from different backgrounds, broached the subject at the conference “Food Waste: from waste to resource” organized at the Province of Milan’s headquarters by the Association of Food Technologists of Lombardy and Liguria (OTALL).
Claudio Peri (Department of Food Science and Technology and Microbiology, University of Milan) outlined the phenomenon, based on data from an updated FAO report: worldwide every year 1.3 billion tons of food are wasted, equal to about one-third of total production, of which 6.6 million tons in Italy alone. In developed countries food waste is almost double that in poor countries, and - says Peri - more than a third of this waste occurs at consumer level, when the costs incurred in the process of primary production are added to the expenditure and the consumption of resources needed for the converting and distribution of the same. Finally, of the current 7 billion people, 1.1 billion are malnourished and undernourished and 1.3 billion are obese or overweight ...
 
The future? In Africa. The speakers at the OTALL conference expounded analyses, testimonies, ideas and projects, showing the quantity and quality of initiatives already undertaken at various government and social levels, and bearing witness to the fundamental contribution of science and technology.
But Peri also warned that we should be careful, in that equilibriums change, inviting us to embrace a broader perspective. The future of food in the world is in Africa where «within a few years the development of food production will change the characteristics of the world economy». It is there, the university lecturer considers that the Italian food technologists must act now in order to manage resources efficiently, providing the most appropriate solutions for logistics, the cold chain, packaging. And giving a longterm perspective to their own profession, with the urgent task «of understanding what is happening and what will happen in the world».
Claudia Sorlini, President and Coordinator of the Expo Scientific Committee, expressed her thanks and reiterated: the universal exhibition will focus on precisely these issues, to be brought up again, articulated and shared in the international arena.