Are Current Food Waste Solutions a Waste of Time?

Summary

According to the United Nations over 33% of food produced globally goes uneaten, whether due to spoilage during production, transportation, on store shelves or at home. Not only does this wasted food represent a loss of resources and opportunity, rotting food in landfills generates greenhouse gasses and soil leachates that causes further environment harm.

Yet despite the massive potential harms that food waste can cause, the issue remains understudied and poorly understood. While there are many charities and campaigns putting forward solutions, would their proposals actually help or are they merely performative?

Assignment

The main objective of your research project is to determine the extent and urgency of the food waste problem and which of the existing solutions are most viable for addressing it.

The initial focus of our research will be on uncovering the root causes of the issue and evaluating whether the problem is worth engaging with or if food waste is an unavoidable byproduct and our efforts should focus more on disposal than mitigation.

You will be tasked with gathering data about the needs, challenges, and priorities for engaging with food waste, and evaluating the strengths and shortcomings of the food waste solutions currently being implemented.