The United Nations estimates that 31% of the food produced in the world is wasted. This is equivalent to approximately 1.3 billion tons of fruits, vegetables, meats, dairy, seafood, and grains, which could sate the hunger of millions of people on the planet.
Food is lost throughout the supply chain, from initial production to final consumption. Of that 31% of waste, 17% comes from homes and businesses, while 14% is lost due to environmental problems.
The problem of food waste is not only a social and food security problem, but also an environmental issue. Waste generates approximately 8% of all greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, the challenge to address should not be just to ensure food production, but to waste less and feed more people.
As consumers, we can be creative and take steps to avoid waste. For example, donating surplus food to people in need; plan purchases and use the food we have before buying more; cook what we actually need; eat reheated food or freeze leftovers; before we think of throwing away very ripe fruits, such as bananas, we can bake them or cook them in desserts.
As food traders or producers, we can also innovate to avoid waste. The UN called the public and private sectors to action to set priorities and advance innovation to reduce the loss and waste of food in the world.
In AgroAmerica we joined this initiative and, since 2016, we have introduced innovation under the ZERO WASTE concept. We built a processing plant for natural banana ingredients, with which we can make the most of our banana production. Last year, we transformed 186 million bananas into natural ingredients. This process has prevented food waste, while promoting food security.
The processing plant has international certifications (HACCP, the LSQA Seal, BRC Global Standard, Kosher and Rainforest Alliance – Preserved Identity), which guarantee transparency, and safety and security in operations throughout the entire production chain.
The Guatemalan-American Chamber of Commerce -AMCHAM- recently awarded AgroAmerica the Environment-based Award: “Recognition to Sustainability”, for our Zero Waste program.
In addition to technological and product innovation, AgroAmerica has a banana donation program in neighboring communities to strengthen food security and the immune system of beneficiary families, in view of the nutritional properties of bananas. Last year we donated more than 13 million bananas to families affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
All the efforts and initiatives in AgroAmerica seek to achieve the ZERO WASTE objective.
Consumers, merchants, and producers can join the Zero Food Waste campaign and contribute to global food security and environmental protection by applying the “5 Rs”: Reduce, Reject, Recover, Reuse and Recycle.