According to a new study, reducing food waste by just half could be a more effective way to protect biodiversity than changing people's diets.
Halving rates of food waste in the United States could slash global biodiversity losses driven by American consumption, according to a new paper published in PNAS. What’s more, the analysis suggests that cutting food waste may be even more effective at reducing species loss than some nationally-recommended diets.
Biodiversity is often left out of the equation when calculating environmental impacts, explain the researchers in the new paper, which is why they made it the focal point of their analysis. They set out to tally up the amount of land—domestically and internationally—that’s required to feed the US, and the number of species that are consequently threatened by this production.
Reducing food waste is an overlooked solution to saving endangered species
Halving rates of food waste in the United States could slash global biodiversity losses driven by American consumption, according to a new paper published in PNAS. What’s more, the analysis suggests that cutting food waste may be even more effective at reducing species loss than some nationally-recommended diets.
Biodiversity is often left out of the equation when calculating environmental impacts, explain the researchers in the new paper, which is why they made it the focal point of their analysis. They set out to tally up the amount of land—domestically and internationally—that’s required to feed the US, and the number of species that are consequently threatened by this production.
Reducing food waste is an overlooked solution to saving endangered species