Is your head spinning yet from the tariff and global politics tug-o-war? Mine is. Unfortunately for consumers, the pain could get worse. A tit-for-tat in trade tariffs between the United States and countries around the world combined with tensions involving China, Canada, Mexico and Brazil — could reshape global trade, eventually driving up grocery store and restaurant prices.
Recent tariffs on U.S. soy, destined for the EU’s agricultural sector, for example, are likely to drive up meat and dairy prices for Europeans. In the U.S., it is estimated that half of all grocery store items are likely to rise because of the tariffs.
Resilience Begins with Reducing Waste
As political leaders understandably focus on resiliency to stay competitive and future-proof their nations from shocks, one overlooked ingredient for resilience is sitting on the world’s plate. With rising prices, there are opportunities for governments to help households and businesses waste less food so that more food ends up on the table.
Globally, 40% of all food produced is wasted. In just the European Union today, nearly 60 million metric tons of food — or 132 kilograms (357 pounds) per resident — is wasted every year. That’s food that could be feeding people, not left rotting in fields and landfills where it emits greenhouse gases and costs enormous sums.
Less waste means more food reaches the market and food distribution becomes more efficient. That translates to a more cost-effective supply chain and, ultimately, lower prices at the checkout. It’s a win-win for everyone — and the sooner countries take action, the quicker they will reap the rewards.
Scaling Smart, Proven Solutions
There are many straightforward things that all countries can do. In the immediate term, governments should encourage businesses to better inform their customers — for instance, by clarifying date labels and offering tips to reduce food waste at home. Public awareness campaigns can promote simple yet effective household strategies: planning meals, writing shopping lists, storing food to maximize useful life, and making best use of their freezer.
In the longer term, governments must measure how much food is currently being wasted within their borders (and publicly report it) to have a baseline to measure future progress against. They should also require companies to report food loss and waste publicly, and work with their supply chains to do the same.
For example, in Japan, legislation mandating reporting has already helped push large food companies to meet reduction targets. In response to the reporting mandate, Japanese grocery chain FamilyMart trialed a sobbing discount sticker to help customers identify food that was close to the expiration date to prevent food waste.
Meanwhile in France, a law requires grocery stores to donate edible food, which has led to a 20% increase in donations to food banks. Similar policies could be expanded across Europe. Businesses’ reporting on food loss creates a big opportunity to better understand key areas where waste happens and create innovative solutions.
Countries also have policy examples for how to engage consumers directly. They could, for example, replicate South Korea’s policy requiring households to pay per weight of trash they throw out, which has helped reduce household waste intensity by over one-third.
And now, for the first time, the EU has made tackling food waste a legal priority. In a historic move, the European Parliament and Council recently agreed to binding targets — the first anywhere in the world — requiring member states to reduce food waste at the retail and consumer levels by 30%, and food losses from production and manufacturing by 10% by 2030. While many experts advocated for higher targets, this is a welcome development that should result in tangible benefits — saving people money, bolstering food security and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Every EU country must work to turn this target into a reality. An important part of this will be engaging all parts of the food system to ensure everyone contributes — retailers, manufacturers, transportation and storage providers, farmers and all of us as individual consumers.
The solutions aren’t rocket science. We have lots of evidence of what works and the many benefits of curbing food waste. In uncertain times, it’s smart to rely on what you know. If global leaders want a resilient future, one thing is certain: Cutting food waste is a smart place to start.
