food waste
belated 7/20<div>
</div><div><p><b><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></b></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">ew 720 methane</font></p><h1 class="widgetheadline h1" style="margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; cursor: pointer; overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="word-break: break-word; overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 1.2; font-weight: normal;"><a class="widgetheadline-text custom-post-headline" href="https://www.ecowatch.com/food-waste-environment-2646305670.html" aria-label="How COVID-19 Creates Food Waste Mountains That Threaten the Environment" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 1.2;">How COVID-19 Creates Food Waste Mountains That Threaten the Environment</a></font></h1><h1 class="widgetheadline h1" style="margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; cursor: pointer; overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></h1><div><div class="body js-expandable clearfix js-listicle-body js-update-url css-listicle-body-2646305670 expanded" data-elid="2646305670" data-post-url="https://www.ecowatch.com/food-waste-environment-2646305670.html" data-authors="World Economic Forum" data-headline="How COVID-19 Creates Food Waste Mountains That Threaten the Environment" style="margin-top: 0px; line-height: 1.5; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="body-description" style="clear: both;"><div class="widgetbrief"><p style="margin: 10px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> Emma Charlton</font></p><p style="margin: 10px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Gluts of food left to rot as a consequence of coronavirus aren't just wasteful – they're also likely to damage the environment.</font></p></div><div class="content-container"><div class=" rebellt-item is--desktop col1" id="rebelltitem1" data-id="1" data-is-image="False" data-href="https://www.ecowatch.com/food-waste-environment-2646305670.html?rebelltitem=1#rebelltitem1" data-published-at="1593607152" data-basename="particle-1" data-post-id="2646305670"><p style="margin: 10px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Mountains of produce, including eggs, milk and onions, are going to waste as the COVID-19 pandemic shutters restaurants, restricts transport, limits what workers are able to do and disrupts supply chains. And as that food decays, it releases methane, a powerful greenhouse gas.</font></p><p style="margin: 10px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Fresh milk and eggs have been dumped, and some ripe crops reploughed back into fields, according to reports in the <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/closed-due-to-coronavirus-restaurants-clear-out-their-pantries-11586005203?mod=article_inline" target="blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); overflow-wrap: break-word;">Wall Street Journal</a> and the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/11/business/coronavirus-destroying-food.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); overflow-wrap: break-word;">New York Times</a>. While consumer demand for some supermarket items has risen as a result of lockdowns, it's unlikely to offset steep declines elsewhere, such in restaurants and school and workplace canteens.</font></p></div><div class=" rebellt-item is--desktop col1" id="rebelltitem2" data-id="2" data-is-image="False" data-href="https://www.ecowatch.com/food-waste-environment-2646305670.html?rebelltitem=2#rebelltitem2" data-published-at="1593607152" data-basename="methane-on-the-rise" data-post-id="2646305670"><h3 data-role="headline"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Methane on the Rise</font></h3><p style="margin: 10px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Not only is this a tragic waste of food at a time when many are going hungry, it is also an <a href="https://donatedontdump.net/2014/07/07/the-effects-of-food-waste-on-the-environment-by-junemy-pantig/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); overflow-wrap: break-word;">environmental hazard</a> and could contribute to global warming. Landfill gas – <a href="https://www.epa.gov/lmop/basic-information-about-landfill-gas" target="blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); overflow-wrap: break-word;">roughly half methane and half carbon dioxide (CO2)</a> – is a natural byproduct of the decomposition of organic material.</font></p></div><div class=" rebellt-item is--desktop col1" id="rebelltitem3" data-id="3" data-is-image="True" data-href="https://www.ecowatch.com/food-waste-environment-2646305670.html?rebelltitem=3#rebelltitem3" data-published-at="1593607152" data-basename="particle-3" data-post-id="2646305670"><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" style="font-style: italic; text-align: right; display: block;" /><p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 4px !important;"><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" style="font-style: italic; text-align: right; display: block;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Food decay leads to production of greenhouse gases, methane and carbon dioxide. EPA</font></small></p><p style="margin: 10px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, 28 to <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/2018/02/SYR_AR5_FINAL_full.pdf" target="blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); overflow-wrap: break-word;">36 times more effective than CO2 at trapping heat</a> in the atmosphere over a 100-year period, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.</font></p><p style="margin: 10px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"Many export-oriented producers produce volumes far too large for output to be absorbed in local markets, and thus <a href="https://unctad.org/en/pages/newsdetails.aspx?OriginalVersionID=2333" target="blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); overflow-wrap: break-word;">organic waste levels have mounted substantially</a>," says Robert Hamwey, Economic Affairs Officer at UN agency UNCTAD. "Because this waste is left to decay, levels of methane emissions, a greenhouse gas, from decaying produce are expected to rise sharply in the crisis and immediate post-crisis months."</font></p></div><div class=" rebellt-item is--desktop col1" id="rebelltitem4" data-id="4" data-is-image="True" data-href="https://www.ecowatch.com/food-waste-environment-2646305670.html?rebelltitem=4#rebelltitem4" data-published-at="1593607152" data-basename="particle-4" data-post-id="2646305670"><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" style="font-style: italic; text-align: right; display: block;" /><p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 4px !important;"><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" style="font-style: italic; text-align: right; display: block;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Food supply chains are easily disrupted. UN FAO</font></small></p><p style="margin: 10px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Dumping food was already a problem before the crisis. In America alone, <a href="https://www.refed.com/?sort=economic-value-per-ton" target="blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); overflow-wrap: break-word;">$218 billion is spent growing, processing, transporting</a> and disposing of food that is never eaten, estimates ReFED, a collection of business, non-profit and government leaders committed to reducing food waste. That's equivalent to around 1.3% of GDP.</font></p><p style="margin: 10px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Since the pandemic took hold, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-52267943" target="blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); overflow-wrap: break-word;">farmers are dumping 14 million liters</a> of milk each day because of disrupted supply routes, estimates Dairy Farmers of America. A chicken processor was forced to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/11/business/coronavirus-destroying-food.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); overflow-wrap: break-word;">destroy 750,000 unhatched eggs a week</a>, according to the New York Times, which also cited an onion farmer letting most of his harvest decompose because he couldn't distribute or store them.</font></p></div><div class=" rebellt-item is--desktop col1" id="rebelltitem5" data-id="5" data-is-image="False" data-href="https://www.ecowatch.com/food-waste-environment-2646305670.html?rebelltitem=5#rebelltitem5" data-published-at="1593607152" data-basename="food-prices-collapsing" data-post-id="2646305670"><h3 data-role="headline"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Food Prices Collapsing</font></h3><p style="margin: 10px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The excess has also seen prices collapse. The <a href="http://www.fao.org/worldfoodsituation/foodpricesindex/en/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); overflow-wrap: break-word;">FAO Food Price Index</a> (FFPI) averaged 162.5 points in May 2020, down 3.1 points from April and reaching the lowest monthly average since December 2018. The gauge has dropped for four consecutive months, and the latest decline reflects falling values of all the food commodities – dairy, meat, cereal, vegetable – except sugar, which rose for the first time in three months.</font></p><p style="margin: 10px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">All this while the pandemic is exacerbating other global food trends.</font></p><p style="margin: 10px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"This year, some 49 million extra people may fall into extreme poverty due to the COVID-19 crisis," said António Guterres, Secretary-General of the UN. "The number of people who are acutely food or nutrition insecure will rapidly expand. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGhLKAbNDiY&feature=youtu.be" target="blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); overflow-wrap: break-word;">Even in countries with abundant food, we see risks of disruptions in the food supply chain</a>."</font></p><p style="margin: 10px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[twt] World Economic Forum has launched its <a href="https://www.weforum.org/great-reset/about" target="blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); overflow-wrap: break-word;">Great Reset initiative</a>, which urgently calls for global stakeholders to cooperate in managing the consequences of the COVID-19 crisis. It calls on policymakers to put the environment at the heart of plans to rebuild as we emerge from the pandemic.</font></p></div><p class="" style="margin: 10px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/06/covid-19-food-waste-mountains-environment/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); overflow-wrap: break-word;">World Economic Forum</a>.</font></p><div class="around-the-web" style="margin-top: 20px !important;"><div class="from-your-siteheadline" style="font-weight: 700; text-transform: uppercase; visibility: hidden !important; margin-bottom: -5px !important;" /><ul class="around-the-weblist" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: none;"><li class="from-your-siteitem"><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/food-waste-increase-2597861750.html" class="from-your-sitelink" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); font-weight: 700; line-height: normal; display: inline-block; margin-top: 10px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Food Waste Set to Increase by 33 Percent Within 10 Years - EcoWatch ›</font></a></li><li class="from-your-siteitem"><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/reducing-food-waste-is-good-for-economy-and-climate-report-says-1882013448.html" class="from-your-sitelink" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); font-weight: 700; line-height: normal; display: inline-block; margin-top: 10px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Reducing Food Waste Is Good for Economy and Climate, Report Says ›</font></a></li><li class="from-your-siteitem"><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/stop-food-waste-day-organizations-2645871951.html" class="from-your-sitelink" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); font-weight: 700; line-height: normal; display: inline-block; margin-top: 10px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">23 Organizations Eliminating Food Waste During COVID-19 ... ›</font></a></li></ul><div class="around-the-webheadline" style="font-weight: 700; text-transform: uppercase; visibility: hidden; margin-top: 20px !important; margin-bottom: -5px !important;" /><ul class="around-the-weblist" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: none;"><li class="around-the-webitem"><a href="https://www.epa.gov/recycle/reducing-wasted-food-home" class="around-the-weblink" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); font-weight: 700; line-height: normal; display: inline-block; margin-top: 10px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Reducing Wasted Food At Home | Reduce, Reuse, Recycle | US EPA ›</font></a></li><li class="around-the-webitem"><a href="https://foodprint.org/issues/the-problem-of-food-waste/" class="around-the-weblink" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); 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padding: 6px 11px;">food</a> <a class="tagsitem" href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/covid-19" style="text-decoration-line: none; margin: 4px 2px; display: inline-block; overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 1; border-radius: 20px; border: 2px solid rgb(232, 232, 232); padding: 6px 11px;">covid-19</a> <a class="tagsitem" href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/pandemic" style="text-decoration-line: none; margin: 4px 2px; display: inline-block; overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 1; border-radius: 20px; border: 2px solid rgb(232, 232, 232); padding: 6px 11px;">pandemic</a> <a class="tagsitem" href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/coronavirus" style="text-decoration-line: none; margin: 4px 2px; display: inline-block; overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 1; border-radius: 20px; border: 2px solid rgb(232, 232, 232); padding: 6px 11px;">coronavirus</a> <a class="tagsitem" href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/greenhouse-gases" style="text-decoration-line: none; margin: 4px 2px; display: inline-block; overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 1; border-radius: 20px; border: 2px solid rgb(232, 232, 232); padding: 6px 11px;">greenhouse gases</a> <a class="tagsitem" href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/methane" style="text-decoration-line: none; margin: 4px 2px; display: inline-block; overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 1; border-radius: 20px; border: 2px solid rgb(232, 232, 232); padding: 6px 11px;">methane</a> <a class="tagsitem" href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/environment" style="text-decoration-line: none; margin: 4px 2px; display: inline-block; overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 1; border-radius: 20px; border: 2px solid rgb(232, 232, 232); padding: 6px 11px;">environment</a></font></div></div><p><b><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></b></p></div>