29.09.2017, 18:30
The European Union and FAO bring combined weight to bear on food waste
Source: FAO
OREANDA-NEWS. EU Commissioner of Health and Food Safety Vytenis Andriukaitis and FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva today agreed to ratchet up collaboration between the two organizations to address food waste, food safety, and antimicrobial resistance in supply chains.
In a new letter of intent signed today, FAO and the EU pledge to work closely together to halve per capita food waste by 2030, a goal established under the new Sustainable Development Goals global agenda. It also commits them to intensified cooperation on tackling the spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) on farms and in food systems.
Speaking at a signing ceremony at FAO's Rome headquarters, Commissioner Andriukaitis said: "Food loss and waste represent an unacceptable, unethical and immoral squandering of scarce resources and increase food insecurity, while AMR marks a grave societal and economic burden," adding: "We are becoming more united, more efficient and more strategic in how we tackle these issues, and as such, this agreement should be celebrated."
Calling AMR growing global concern, Graziano da Silva said: "Unfortunately the use of antibiotics, including their use to promote growth, is already widespread."
He described FAO's vision that antibiotics and other antimicrobials should be only used to cure diseases and, in certain circumstances, to prevent epidemics. They should not be used for growth promotion, he said.
Noting that food loss and waste is linked to many aspects of sustainable development, Graziano da Silva cited the importance of strong partnerships like that between the FAO and the EU in addressing the problem.
Shared concerns
Globally, one-third of all food produce for human consumption - 1.3 billion tonnes -- is lost or wasted, each year, causing massive financial losses while squandering natural resources. In Europe alone, around 88 million tonnes of food are wasted each year, with associated costs estimated at €143 billion, according to EU estimates.
Meanwhile, the increased use -- and abuse -- of antimicrobial medicines in both human and animal healthcare has contributed to an increase in the number of disease-causing microbes that are resistant to antimicrobial medicines used to treat them, like antibiotics.
This makes AMR a growing threat that could lead to as many as 10 million deaths a year and over $100 million in losses to the global economy by 2050, according to some studies. And in addition to public health risks, AMR has implications for food safety as walls as the economic wellbeing of millions of farming households across the globe.
In a new letter of intent signed today, FAO and the EU pledge to work closely together to halve per capita food waste by 2030, a goal established under the new Sustainable Development Goals global agenda. It also commits them to intensified cooperation on tackling the spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) on farms and in food systems.
Speaking at a signing ceremony at FAO's Rome headquarters, Commissioner Andriukaitis said: "Food loss and waste represent an unacceptable, unethical and immoral squandering of scarce resources and increase food insecurity, while AMR marks a grave societal and economic burden," adding: "We are becoming more united, more efficient and more strategic in how we tackle these issues, and as such, this agreement should be celebrated."
Calling AMR growing global concern, Graziano da Silva said: "Unfortunately the use of antibiotics, including their use to promote growth, is already widespread."
He described FAO's vision that antibiotics and other antimicrobials should be only used to cure diseases and, in certain circumstances, to prevent epidemics. They should not be used for growth promotion, he said.
Noting that food loss and waste is linked to many aspects of sustainable development, Graziano da Silva cited the importance of strong partnerships like that between the FAO and the EU in addressing the problem.
Shared concerns
Globally, one-third of all food produce for human consumption - 1.3 billion tonnes -- is lost or wasted, each year, causing massive financial losses while squandering natural resources. In Europe alone, around 88 million tonnes of food are wasted each year, with associated costs estimated at €143 billion, according to EU estimates.
Meanwhile, the increased use -- and abuse -- of antimicrobial medicines in both human and animal healthcare has contributed to an increase in the number of disease-causing microbes that are resistant to antimicrobial medicines used to treat them, like antibiotics.
This makes AMR a growing threat that could lead to as many as 10 million deaths a year and over $100 million in losses to the global economy by 2050, according to some studies. And in addition to public health risks, AMR has implications for food safety as walls as the economic wellbeing of millions of farming households across the globe.
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