{"id":1195,"date":"2025-04-29T22:10:52","date_gmt":"2025-04-29T22:10:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.highschoolhypnotist.com\/?p=1195"},"modified":"2025-05-02T23:42:28","modified_gmt":"2025-05-02T23:42:28","slug":"how-the-upcycling-movement-can-help-build-a-true-circular-food-economy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.highschoolhypnotist.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/29\/how-the-upcycling-movement-can-help-build-a-true-circular-food-economy\/","title":{"rendered":"How the upcycling movement can help build a true circular food economy"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"circular<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a big problem in the food industry that we don\u2019t like to talk about. It\u2019s a hidden problem with roots steeped in inefficiency and a desire for \u201caesthetics.\u201d It\u2019s an issue we never saw as an issue until we realised food scarcity is imminent and in fact, existing. It\u2019s often unseen and unheard behind closed doors, yet it\u2019s a massive issue. That issue? Food waste and loss.<\/p>\n

Was your gut reaction \u201cEww!\u201d or \u201cOh yeah. That problem\u2026\u201d? Whether you\u2019re a food waste fighter or not, there\u2019s no denying it: Food waste and loss is one of the biggest yet most underrated problems facing the food industry.<\/p>\n

Every year, a third of food produced or 1.3 billion tonnes<\/a> gets lost or wasted globally. According to the UN, the global cost of food wastage amounts to a shocking US$2.6 trillion a year<\/a>.<\/p>\n

That’s almost equivalent to India’s GDP. And if food waste were a country, it\u2019d be the third largest greenhouse gas (GHG) emitting country after the US and China. Just let that sink in for a moment.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Source: World Resources Institute and UNEP<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

As if wasting food instead of feeding 690 million hungry people wasn\u2019t bad enough, food waste and loss contributes significantly to global warming, specifically 8-10 per cent of global GHG emissions<\/a>.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s four times as much GHG emissions as the entire aviation industry. This is because most food waste ends up in landfill, where it decomposes and releases methane, a GHG up to 30x more harmful than carbon dioxide<\/a>.<\/p>\n

With the increasing scarcity of key resources and limited opportunities for agricultural expansion especially in land-scarce countries such as Singapore and Japan, eradicating food waste and loss should be high on any food agenda.<\/p>\n

A rising number of companies have looked to upcycling food waste and loss as a solution, using technology and food science to upcycle surplus and otherwise discarded food ingredients and turning it into delicious and nutritious products.<\/p>\n

Also Read:\u00a0In brief: An organic disinfectant\u00a0from cashew waste; Orios Venture closes $30M Select Fund I<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

The case for upcycling<\/strong><\/h1>\n

Upcycling is based on the philosophy of using all of what we already have and doing more with less. Most of all, upcycled food is about reducing food waste and loss by creating high-quality products using the resources that slip through the cracks of our food system.<\/p>\n

Whether it\u2019s turning brewer\u2019s spent grain into crunchy snacks or turning surplus bread into beer<\/a>, surplus ingredients or food byproducts are used and transformed into value-added products that nourish people and the planet.<\/p>\n

\"\"Source: Regrained<\/em><\/p>\n

A team of experts from Harvard Law School, Drexel University, World Wildlife Fund, Natural Resources Defense Council, ReFED, and others officially defined \u201cupcycled food\u201d in 2020: \u201cUpcycled foods use ingredients that otherwise would not have gone to human consumption, are procured and produced using verifiable supply chains, and have a positive impact on the environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Globally, we lose almost US$1 trillion in monetary or retail costs per year<\/a> on food that is wasted or lost. Upcycled food captures that value, elevating it to create a sustainable and resilient food system.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the case for upcycled food:<\/p>\n