### Environment Enormous amount of food thrown away in the shadow of satiation - Impact of 19 million tons of food waste 2002

### Environment Enormous amount of food thrown away in the shadow of satiation - Impact of 19 million tons of food waste 2002

In 2002, Japan was one of the world's leading food importers, yet domestic food waste reached 19 million tons per year. This contrasted sharply with the number of people suffering from hunger throughout the world, and was viewed by the international community as a problem, as "the waste that lies behind the satiety of food. In particular, among developed countries, Japan's food self-sufficiency rate was low at around 40%, so the country was faced with the double contradiction of being dependent on overseas sources for much of its food while at the same time wasting a large amount of it.

Behind this was a business practice known as the "one-third rule" at the distribution and retail stages. This rule divides the time from production to consumption into three equal parts, and food products that have passed the first third of the time are not allowed to be distributed. As a result, large quantities of products with no quality problems were returned or discarded, resulting in social losses. In addition, the expansion of the restaurant industry and overcooking at home also contributed to food loss.

This mass disposal was not only a waste of resources, but also led directly to environmental destruction. Incineration of food waste increased CO2 emissions, while landfilling contributed to global warming through the generation of methane gas. Disposal costs also put pressure on municipal finances, and became a factor in shaking the sustainability of society as a whole.

Meanwhile, the Food Recycling Law, which came into effect in 2001, required businesses to increase their recycling rate and began to set up a system to promote the conversion of food scraps and leftovers into feed and fertilizer. For example, recycling loops in which bread crumbs and leftover rice were processed into animal feed were tried in many places, and the seeds of a shift to a recycling-oriented society could be seen. However, the effectiveness of the system was not yet sufficient, and a change in the awareness of society as a whole was required.

The "19 million tons of food waste" was not just a domestic problem, but symbolic of the imbalance in the distribution of food resources on a global scale. 2002 was a year that forced Japan to face up to the waste and environmental burden behind its food-saturated society, and to ask how it could link a recycling-based society with international solidarity. The 2002 debate was a call for Japan to face up to the waste and environmental burden behind its saturated society.