In Denmark, buying "less fresh" reduces food waste and saves emissions

By Stephanie McCauley
September 30, 2015

A recent NPR article discusses how consumers in Denmark currently throw away 25 percent less food than they did 5 years ago, an average of 104 pounds per person per year compared to 273 pounds per person per year in the US. Much of this improvement is due to the grassroots organization Stop Wasting Food, founded in 2008 by Selina Juul. By making food conservation trendy and calling out to consumers through social media outlets, they have influenced consumers to proudly shop for nearly or just expired items, and stores have started to move such items to discount areas, marketing them based on their new popularity. Additionally, stores are working to learn more about their supply chain decisions and more accurately stock their shelves for demand.

Climate Protection: Decreases food transportation emissions, land and water used for production, and landfill waste from food that goes uneaten Energy & Mobility: Saves hauling miles on highways Resilience: Helps areas improve knowledge of what essentials are needed for daily life Food & Water: Saves both food and water; allows capacity to provide more for those who are lacking Jobs & Assets: Reduces wasted money on food production and purchases, allows for more discounted food items Health, Well-Being, & Safety: Provides incentive for better ways to monitor the expiration of foods and to get healthy food to those who don’t have it readily available Connection: Allows consumers to feel closer to food sources by participating more in the feedback of what’s needed and seeing the benefits of more food to those who need it

This post is part of a series on examples of ​multisolving​, or climate-smart policies that simultaneously work to mitigate climate change while providing co-benefits such as the ones described above. The multiple benefits analysis was done using the ​FLOWER framework​.