Europe is wasting huge amounts of food while millions of people globally experience hunger. Wars in Ukraine and the Middle East have squeezed supply chains. The cost of living crisis has pushed many families to the edge.

Without strengthening environmental sustainability, supply chain resilience and household affordability, food security risks will increase significantly. Yet households still throw away huge amounts of edible food. This is not just waste. It is lost calories, lost money and a growing climate problem.

My team’s new analysis of European households find they discard more than 70kg of food per person each year. An estimated 69 million tonnes of food was wasted in Europe and the UK in 2025 according to our calculations, based on average food waste for the EU and the UK, and the current combined population. But it’s a global problem: around the world in 2022 – the latest year we have data for – households, retail and food service wasted 1.052 billion tonnes.

The European Commission reports that a four‑person household would save €400 (£346) per year on food that is ultimately wasted. But the problem is not simply about money. The main drivers of food waste are lack of knowledge and understanding, as well as health-related concerns about supposedly out-of-date food,........

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