Study Finds Almost Half of All Food Never Makes It To Consumers

By JORDAN BRANDES Almost half of all food produced worldwide never makes it to the consumer, reports a new study done by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. Two billion tons of food goes to waste ever year, a number that does not take into account the other resources such as water, chemical, labor and energy that goes into providing sustenance to the people of the world. If that number were eliminated it could potentially provide 60 to 100 percent more food to the planet’s ever-growing population. "The reasons for this situation range from poor engineering and agricultural practices, inadequate transport and storage infrastructure through to supermarkets demanding cosmetically perfect foodstuffs and encouraging consumers to overbuy through buy-one-get-one free offers,” explains Dr. Tim Fox, head of energy and environment at the Institute of Mechanical Engineers.