Amid efforts to protect food security, food waste remains an essential issue to be tackled. Across the world, about 1.3 billion tons of food go to waste, with more than 10 million in Türkiye alone, according to unofficial figures. Sept. 29 is marked as the International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste, and Türkiye seeks to promote methods for waste prevention.

In a statement on Thursday, Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Vahit Kirişçi said people should be more aware of "labor spent" in bringing food from the field to the table and prevent food waste. Kirişçi said crises after the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ukraine-Russia war and climate change highlighted the vital role of agriculture and food security. "Countries are taking measures to preserve their natural resources, soil and water and to ensure agricultural sustainability. We should also focus on consumption along with production and efficiency in our efforts to maintain food security," he said.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) says around 14% of the world’s food is lost after being harvested, while an estimated 17% is wasted at the retail and consumer levels.

"This food loss and waste account for 8%-10% of the total global greenhouse gases, contributing to an unstable climate and extreme weather events such as droughts and flooding. These changes negatively impact crop yields, reduce the nutritional quality of crops, cause supply chain disruptions and threaten food security and nutrition," FAO said in a statement on the occasion of the day.

A recent study also showed that the European Union wastes more food than it imports. According to a report by the environmental group Feedback EU, the bloc wastes over 153.5 million tons of food each year, while it imported 138 million tons of agricultural products in 2021. The waste is twice as much as it has been previously expected, costing around 143 billion euros ($143 billion) for European households and businesses, the study claimed. The report also pointed out that one-fifth of the EU's agricultural production is not consumed, accounting for at least 6% of the EU's total gashouse emissions. Wheat, an equivalent of half of Ukraine's wheat exports and a quarter of the EU's other grain exports, was also thrown away, the study added. "At a time of high food prices and a cost-of-living crisis, it's a scandal that the EU is potentially throwing away more food than it's importing," Frank Mechielsen, the executive director of the Feedback EU, said in a press statement.

Along with 42 other organizations from 20 EU countries, Feedback EU called on the European Commission to set a compulsory target to halve food waste by 2030 to tackle climate change and improve food security.

Kirişçi said Türkiye spearheads international efforts to curb food waste, citing the international campaign "Save Your Food" it launched in cooperation with the FAO in 2020, to raise awareness about the issue and create food waste prevention models to set an example for other countries. He noted that they were working to raise awareness among consumers through the campaign, from how to preserve the food better to planned shopping and recycling food waste. "Türkiye also presents incentives to the public and private sectors for recycling wasted food. A new regulation implemented in August paved the way for restaurants, hotels, factories and other venues for the conversion of food waste into animal feed. Thus, we will be able to recycle 18 million tons of wasted food," the minister said.

Flies to the rescue

There are several methods for recycling food waste, and the best option is sometimes to turn to nature for help. The black soldier fly is among the natural helpers. The larvae of the fly are used to compost waste and later processed as animal feed due to the high amount of protein they contain after consuming the discarded organic material. Moreover, their conversion does not involve the consumption of energy or toxic waste and does not waste any food fit for human consumption. It also prevents the emission of air pollutants.

Professor Volkan Dündar, a Turkish scientist studying the black soldier fly, says the species spread around the world from the Americas and is ubiquitous everywhere now, citing that large-scale breeding facilities were established in Asia and Africa for their use. "Black soldier flies usually die within eight days of laying their larvae. They are very small but are capable of laying up to 900 larvae. Their larvae form in locations containing waste and they directly came into contact with waste. Larvae grow 1,500 times their original size in 10 days," he said.

Dündar told Anadolu Agency (AA) on Thursday that the larvae can be added to bokashi, a special type of bucket used for converting food waste and other organic matter into compost. "There isn’t anything like those flies in the world that can be turned into protein at such a swift pace. They do not pollute the environment, on the contrary, they help the conversion of likely pollutants into protein," he said. Dündar added that 100 kilograms (220 pounds) of food waste can feed some 20 kilograms of black soldier fly larvae and "5 kilograms of premium quality fertilizer."

Black soldier fly larvae are used to feed chickens and fish. Dündar said every 100 grams of feed for chickens should consist of at least 18 grams of protein. "Larvae in 1 square meter of bokashi can feed 50 chickens for three months," he added.