The next time you think about cleaning out your refrigerator and tossing anything you don’t want to eat, consider this: Up to one-third of the food we produce is thrown away because of unnecessary food waste. This is alarming information when you take into consideration that people in some parts of the world are struggling to find food, but even advanced countries struggle with food waste. The member nations of the European Union are all progressive and environmentally conscious, people are still wasting million of tons of food, and this waste is mainly coming from households.
One way to waste food unnecessarily is to toss something because of its expiration date. Expiration dates are suggestions from manufacturers and aren’t regulated by the FDA. With so many people around the world facing chronic hunger and food shortages, ending food waste could have a serious impact on pollution and CO2 emissions.
It’s no secret that food production and food disposal are responsible for greenhouse gas emissions, but this infographic shows just how detrimental food waste is, and it draws on numbers produced by European Parliament. You may be surprised as which European country leads the pack –– I know I was.