Food Wastage in India: A Crisis of Conscience, Economy, and Environment

The UN Environment Programme’s Food Waste Index Report (2024) has raised alarming red flags about the scale of global food wastage. According to the report, a staggering 1.05 billion tonnes of food was wasted globally in 2022, with India ranking among the top contributors. Nearly 20% of all food available to Indian consumers ends up being wasted.

This isn't merely a statistic—it reflects a multi-dimensional crisis involving morality, economics, food security, and environmental sustainability. In a country where over 20 crore people are food-insecure, food wastage represents a cruel paradox.

Table of Contents

1. Scale and Scope of Food Wastage

2. Major Causes of Food Waste in India

   • Household-Level Waste

   • Supply Chain Inefficiencies

3. Environmental Consequences

4. Social and Ethical Implications

5. Economic Losses Due to Wasted Food

6. Government Measures to Curb Wastage

7. Global Best Practices: Lessons for India

8. Way Forward: Multi-Stakeholder Action Plan

9. Conclusion

1. Scale and Scope of Food Wastage:

India wastes approximately 68 million tonnes of food annually, making it one of the largest food wasters globally. The problem spans across:

• Urban households with high purchasing power.

• Food retail markets with poor infrastructure.

• Weddings, festivals, and social gatherings where over-cooking and under-utilization are rampant.

In monetary terms, food worth over ₹90,000 crore is wasted every year in India. This figure represents not just lost food, but lost resources—water, labor, energy, and transport.

2. Major Causes of Food Waste in India:

A. Household-Level Waste

• Over-purchasing and impulsive buying, especially in urban middle-class households.

• Lack of planning—cooking more than required.

• Improper storage leading to spoilage.

• Cultural practices of celebratory abundance at weddings and festivals, where excess food is a social norm.

• Lack of awareness about portion control and leftover management.

B. Supply Chain Inefficiencies

• 30–40% of agricultural produce is lost before reaching the consumer.

• Poor infrastructure in storage and transportation—rotting vegetables, spoiled dairy, and broken grain sacks.

• Absence of refrigerated transport and cold storage units.

• Fragmented supply chains leading to delays and multiple handling points.

3. Environmental Consequences:

• Food waste contributes to 8–10% of global greenhouse gas emissions, primarily methane released from decomposing food in landfills.

• In India, the waste management system is ill-equipped to handle organic waste sustainably.

• Decomposing food in landfills contaminates soil and groundwater.

• Overproduction of food to meet demand that will never be consumed leads to excessive water use, deforestation, and loss of biodiversity.

Global Impact in Numbers:

• It takes 15,000 liters of water to produce 1 kg of beef.

• Over 30% of all freshwater used in agriculture is used for food that is never eaten.

4. Social and Ethical Implications:

• Over 783 million people globally go to bed hungry each night.

• In India, one in five people is food insecure, yet food is wasted in staggering amounts.

• Food wastage represents a social injustice—the privilege of waste amid hunger.

• Hunger also leads to malnutrition in children, with India having one of the highest rates of child stunting and underweight children.

Irony at Play:

• Banquets discard food while slum children search for scraps.

• Food worth lakhs is dumped at events, while rural schools struggle to run mid-day meal programs.

5. Economic Losses Due to Wasted Food:

• Every grain wasted equals wasted inputs—fertilizer, labor, water, fuel, electricity.

• Losses in the food chain impact farmer incomes, transporters, retailers, and consumers.

• Food inflation rises as available supply decreases, burdening the poor the most.

Case in Point:

• Tomatoes rotting on highways due to lack of trucks in monsoon = massive loss for farmers and price spikes in cities.

6. Government Measures to Curb Wastage:

Campaigns & Initiatives:

• “Save Food Share Food”: Focused on redistributing excess food from functions and hotels.

• FSSAI’s ‘Save Food’ initiative: Encourages food recovery organizations to connect donors and recipients.

Infrastructure Development:

• Expansion of cold-chain logistics under schemes like PM Kisan Sampada Yojana.

• Grants for modernizing agricultural markets (eNAM).

Policy Commitments:

• India is a signatory to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12.3, which aims to halve per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels by 2030.

7. Global Best Practices: Lessons for India:

France:

• First country to ban supermarkets from throwing away unsold food.

• Mandated donation to food banks and charities.

South Korea:

• Smart bins and food waste tracking systems charge citizens by weight of waste.

• Encouraged mass behavioral change.

United Kingdom:

• Campaigns like “Love Food, Hate Waste” promote awareness on food portioning, smart storage, and leftovers.

United States:

• EPA’s Food Recovery Hierarchy prioritizes actions from source reduction to composting.

• Tech platforms connect excess food suppliers to food banks.

8. Way Forward: Multi-Stakeholder Action Plan:

1. At the Household Level:

• Educate families on meal planning and food storage.

• Encourage composting and community kitchens.

• Promote apps that alert users before expiry dates of stored items.

2. At the Business Level:

• Hotels and restaurants must donate surplus food or use it for composting.

• Incentivize food waste audits and green certifications.

• Create public-private partnerships for food rescue logistics.

3. At the Government Level:

• Integrate food loss reduction into agricultural and nutritional policy.

• Expand cold storage and refrigerated transport.

• Encourage zero-waste markets in urban areas.

4. Civil Society & NGOs:

• Promote awareness drives, food banks, and food-sharing platforms.

• Create social norms around mindful consumption.

9. Conclusion:

Food wastage is not just a logistical or economic issue—it is a deeply moral and developmental failure. In a country like India, where millions go hungry every day, wasting food is tantamount to injustice.

By adopting a whole-of-society approach, India can significantly reduce food wastage, bolster food security, protect the environment, and enhance economic efficiency. From individual kitchens to government policy rooms, the responsibility is shared—and so must be the solution.

India cannot afford to waste food—not when people go hungry, not when the planet suffers, and not when the economy bleeds. It is time to value every grain.