Giving Compass' Take:

• Madeleine Keck reports that Australia dramatically reduced food waste in 2018, but still has a long way to go in the fight against food waste. 

• How can funders work to build on the progress Australia has made on food waste? How can other countries learn from Australia? 

• Learn about ways to reduce food waste. 

Australians reduced their overall food waste by $700 million (AUD) last year, but specialists claim an abundance of food continues to be purchased, allowed to rot before reaching the retail stage, and thrown out ahead of being eaten.

A report released Friday disclosed each Australian household tossed an average $890 worth of food in the garbage in 2018, racking up an overall annual waste bill of $8.9 billion. With each person binning nearly 300 kilograms of food a year, Australia still sits in fourth position on the global food wastage rank.

"It is pleasing that Australian consumers are wasting less food compared to 12 months ago,” said Glenn Wealands, head of client experience at Rabobank, a rural-focused lender that compiled the new report. “However, there is clearly much to do to raise awareness about food production and waste and more urgently implement better practices to reduce waste.”

Read the full article about Australia's food waste by Madeleine Keck at Global Citizen.