Surplus food arises when the availability of food and existing stocks surpasses consumer demand. This phenomenon is largely driven by global overproduction and significantly contributes to food waste and, consequently, to climate change. Understanding “What Is Surplus Food” is crucial for addressing these interconnected issues.
Defining Food Surplus
Food surplus is characterized by an excess of food supply, availability, and nutritional content exceeding the demand. This can occur at any stage of the supply chain, from agricultural production on farms to consumption within households. The consequences of food surplus range from edible food items remaining unsold in supermarkets or restaurants to produce accumulating in farms and storage facilities, which ultimately leads to food waste and loss.
Food surplus is distinct from, yet closely linked to, food waste. It represents the precursor to food waste, where producers and consumers consciously discard food. Beyond its contribution to food waste, surplus food can also contribute to overeating, particularly in developed nations, often resulting in issues of overweight and obesity.
While some degree of food waste is inevitable, efforts to reduce surplus can mitigate its negative effects on the environment and climate.
Factors Contributing to Food Surplus
Overproduction:
With the global population projected to reach nearly 10 billion by 2050 and evolving dietary habits, the demand for food is expected to surge. Estimates suggest an increase of 60% to 110% between 2005 and 2050.
To meet this growing demand, the agricultural industry has increasingly adopted intensive farming techniques capable of generating vast quantities of food. Since 1961, per capita food supply has increased by over 30%, as reported in the 2020 IPCC Special Report on climate change.
Free market economies, such as those in the US and EU, have incentivized increased agricultural production through subsidies to promote economic growth and food security. This enables farmers and the industry to engage in mass production, producing food at lower prices per unit. Mass production is also favored because it provides producers with a sense of security when accounting for seasonal demands and the potential for order changes or cancellations.
As previously stated, food surplus can manifest at any point in the supply chain, including restaurants and food services. According to a 2017 research study that monitored over 1,200 kitchens across more than 20 countries, over 13 million pounds of food waste were generated. Overproduction of food was found to be the direct cause of half of this enormous waste. For example, in Hong Kong, bakeries often overproduce food that is discarded if it remains unsold at the end of the day, contributing to the 40% of food waste in Hong Kong landfills.
Food Imperfection and Labeling:
Food retailers and services often carry a food surplus to satisfy consumer demand. However, supermarkets frequently discard perfectly edible produce deemed “ugly.” This is done either to maintain specific aesthetic standards for their products as part of their brand or because customers tend to avoid less-than-perfect produce. Food surplus can also include meats that are not fully utilized or sold. Certain cuts of meat and animal products are more popular than others, resulting in the waste of many edible parts.
Sellers may also overstock non-perishable foods, discarding any unsold items that have passed their expiration dates. However, supermarkets and households often discard goods after their “Best Before” date, even though they are still perfectly safe to consume.
The Significance of Addressing Food Surplus and Waste
Currently, it is estimated that 40% of all food supplies worldwide are either wasted or lost annually, amounting to 2.5 billion tonnes. Concurrently, 1 billion people globally are undernourished, over 2 billion suffer from a deficiency of essential nutrients in their food, and nearly 6 million children die each year from malnutrition-related diseases. Ironically, the food wasted annually is sufficient to feed three billion people worldwide. This underscores a fundamental problem in global food distribution.
The overproduction of food leads to substantial, and sometimes irreversible, damage to the environment. Boosting mass crop production depends on the use of hazardous quantities of fertilizers, which can be harmful to the soil’s health. The use of nitrogen fertilizers and water required to enhance agricultural output have risen by an astounding 800% and 100%, respectively, in the last 50 years. Fertilizers are also incredibly harmful to the species that depend on these food crops. Many bee and butterfly species, whose role as pollinators is vital to plant growth and food security, have experienced significant population declines to dangerously low levels, with some nearing extinction.
Since food production is a resource-intensive industry, it consumes significant amounts of land, water, and energy, resulting in substantial greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change. Food surplus and subsequent food waste mean that all the resources used and effort exerted, including the exacerbation of global warming, have been in vain.
Today, the agricultural sector contributes approximately 22%–24% of total anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions and accounts for 56% of total non-CO2 greenhouse gas emissions, including methane (which has 80 times the warming potential of CO2) from food decomposition in landfills.
Global food waste alone contributes approximately 6-8% of greenhouse gases, making it the third largest greenhouse gas emitter if it were a country, ranking behind China and the US. It is important to note that this data only covers the production of food that is never consumed.
In 2010, global food availability was 20% higher than necessary, and greenhouse gas emissions linked to food surplus increased from 130 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year to 530 metric tonnes, which is a 300% rise compared to 50 years earlier. Global food surplus is projected to rise between 2.1-2.4 times from 2010 levels by 2050, while surplus-related emissions may rise by 2.6–3.6 times during the same period.
Food deficits, where the demand for food exceeds availability, are becoming increasingly common in many developing and impoverished nations. Countries such as the Central African Republic and Zambia are likely to experience reduced food availability in the next 30 years due to vulnerable climate conditions and inefficient food distribution, thus increasing the risk of food insecurity.
Solutions for Reducing Food Surplus
The current food systems and supply chains do not accurately reflect the actual demand and nutritional requirements of people worldwide. In fact, they often provide excessive food, leading to waste and overconsumption. To address this issue, we need to implement sustainable agricultural practices and transform economic models to discourage food producers from overproducing, thereby reducing not only food surplus but also the environmental and climate impacts.
In addition to institutional and policy changes, numerous new technologies and companies are emerging in the market to combat food surplus and waste at every stage of the food supply chain. These range from plant-based protective coatings that extend the shelf life of produce to brands that exclusively offer oddly-shaped foods that have been “damaged” during processing.
Ultimately, we need to ensure sustainable food distribution and global food security, ensuring that food reaches the appropriate destinations. Numerous organizations worldwide are dedicated to redistributing surplus food from restaurants or food sellers to those in need. In the UK, the charity The Bread and Butter Thing redistributes over 100 tonnes of food per week, equivalent to almost 250,000 meals. In Hong Kong, charities such as Feeding Hong Kong collect unsold food from partners like Pret A Manger to provide meals for those in need. To date, they have prevented 4,400 tonnes of food from ending up in landfills. Start-ups like Chomp are also reducing edible food waste from bakeries and other food businesses by offering “mystery boxes” to consumers. While there is no single solution, adopting these strategies can help to mitigate food surplus and its environmental and climate consequences.
