End ‘beauty cult’ to cut food waste, says WWF

Consumers tend to throw away produce that no longer looks fresh but could be safely consumed, according to WWF Switzerland. © Keystone / Gaetan Bally

About 40% of all the food produced in the world is never consumed, says the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). In Switzerland, 330kg of food per person goes in the bin every year, according to the Swiss arm of the environmental charity.

The 40% of uneaten food corresponds to about 2.5 million tonnes, the organisation said on Thursday. That’s the equivalent of all the food produced between January 1, 2022 and Thursday, which the WWF proclaimed Food Rescue Day. The figure is higher than a previous estimate of 33% by the United Nations in 2011.

The WWF says retailers, processors and consumers should abandon their “beauty cult” for fruits and vegetables: produce gets binned after harvest for not growing to certain standards, supermarkets discard overripe produce, and consumers demand good-looking vegetables and fruits.

“It’s not right that we don’t eat perfectly good food just because of its appearance,” said Mariella Meyer of WWF Switzerland. She added that “to curb food waste, we must intervene at all levels of the value chain – from the field to the plate”. Consumers also tend to throw away produce that no longer looks fresh but could be safely consumed.

Food waste contributes to pollution and the release of greenhouse gases damaging to the climate.

Last month the Swiss government published an action plan to halve food waste by 2030 compared to 2017. In all 28 companies have signed the plan but the WWF said all sectors of the industry, as well as cities and cantons, must make an active contribution in order to meet this goal.