Giving Compass' Take:

• One of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals is cutting food waste in half by 2030. To reach that target, entire countries and companies need to find innovative solutions for reducing waste.

• Some of the examples listed below to mitigate food waste include technology solutions.  How can donors invest in these ideas?

• Here are five ways you can reduce food waste. 

To feed nearly 10 billion people by the middle of the century without trashing the climate, the food system has to fundamentally change—and one major piece of that involves reducing the massive amount of food that’s never eaten. Around a third of all food produced, or 1.3 billion tons a year, is wasted.

Cutting food waste in half by 2030 is one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, and a new report looks at just how we could reach that target—and why it matters. Doing so would reduce greenhouse gas emissions 1.5 gigatons a year by 2050. It would make it possible to avoid converting a piece of nature roughly the size of Argentina into farms. It would also help get food to people who don’t have enough to eat now.

Once targets are set, companies and countries can get creative about avenues for actually mitigating waste. This work is already gaining a foothold—here are just a few examples:

  • Startups are finding new uses for imperfect produce that would otherwise be discarded on farms or excess ingredients that would normally be thrown out in factories, from snack bars made from waste grains in brewing beer to a probiotic tonic made from a byproduct of making yogurt.
  • In developing countries, where food often spoils before it gets to market, startups are working on solutions like solar-powered cold storage rooms, apps that tell farmers the fastest way to get to market, and a biogas-powered tricycle that can refrigerate produce.
  • A growing number of apps connects unsold food from restaurants or supermarkets with food rescue organizations or customers looking for a discount.

Read the full article about cutting food in half by 2030 by Adele Peters at Fast Company.