Global Food Losses

People throw away nearly two billion tons of food per year. Scientists have created a global database on food losses in 121 countries and found that from 2004 to 2014, they increased by 24% and reached 1.92 billion tons per year. In poor countries, most of the losses occur at early stages of the production chain - they lack refrigeration equipment and a lot of products become unusable even on farms. In developed countries, the main losses happen due to excessive consumption and disposal of excess. For example, in North America, Australia, and New Zealand, 1560 kilocalories are thrown away per person daily.