Lesson 06 · 3 min · 5 things to do
Where the waste actually is
Locate losses in the chain rather than at the fridge.
Roughly a third of food produced is never eaten. Where is most of it lost, in a rich country?
- Yes.Rich countries lose food after it is fit to eat: bought and forgotten, or over-ordered and binned. Poorer countries lose more of theirs between the field and the market, for lack of storage and transport.
- Not quite.Field losses are real everywhere and are a much larger share where storage and roads are the constraint.
- Not quite.A significant loss where the cold chain is weak. In a rich country transport is the best-controlled step in the chain.
Waste is not one problem. Where it happens tells you what is missing — storage and roads in one place, planning and portion sizes in another.
Slide across food systems and watch where the losses move.
Lower-incomeMiddle-incomeHigher-income- Field and storage55% of losses
- Transport and market30% of losses
- Shops and homes15% of losses
Lower-incomeMost losses happen before the food reaches anyone — no cold storage, poor roads, delays at market.
- Field and storage40% of losses
- Transport and market25% of losses
- Shops and homes35% of losses
Middle-incomeStorage and transport are improving, and kitchens are starting to throw more away.
- Field and storage25% of losses
- Transport and market15% of losses
- Shops and homes60% of losses
Higher-incomeThe chain is efficient right up to the point of sale, and then a third of the loss happens in kitchens.
Both systems waste a similar share. Why would you fix them differently?
- Yes.One needs cold stores, roads and market access. The other needs planning, labelling and portioning. A campaign aimed at the wrong end achieves nothing, however well run.
- Not quite.The totals match and nothing else does. Fixing waste means fixing a specific step.
- Not quite.Both are the ordinary outcome of the constraints each system faces.
Move the control to see what changes.
Which of these reduce waste in a rich country's food system?
Clearer date labels that distinguish safety from quality.
Smaller pack sizes for single households.
Building more cold storage at farms.
Shops discounting near-date stock rather than binning it.
Faster rural roads.
Yes.The two misplaced answers are exactly the interventions that work in a lower-income system. They are good ideas aimed at a loss that has already been solved here.A household throws away 20% of the food it buys and spends £400 a month. How many pounds a month is that?
£Yes.£80 a month, and the food is only part of the cost — every step of the chain behind it, and all its energy, was spent too.Why is food wasted at home so much more costly than food lost in a field?
- Yes.A tomato binned at home carries the full weight of every step behind it. A tomato left in a field carries only the growing. This is why late-stage waste is targeted first, even though it is a smaller share in many countries.
- Not quite.In a rich country it usually is, and the cost difference holds per kilogram regardless.
- Not quite.Redistribution helps. The cost argument is about what has already been spent by the time it reaches a fridge.
Lesson complete
Where food is wasted tells you what that food system is missing.
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