Upcycled Foods Leave NO ONE Behind
By Jenna Swalin
What is World Food Day?
World Food Day, celebrated October 16, 2022, is a time to promote and celebrate collective action that improves food production, nutrition and environmental impacts in order to generate long term, inclusive economic growth. For this year’s World Food Day the UN Food and Agriculture Organization has selected the theme “Leave NO ONE behind,” to identify and reach the millions of people globally who experience food insecurity and lack of access to nutritious food.
Millions of people across the world do not have access to nutritious food. This has been exacerbated recently due to multiple challenges including the ongoing pandemic, inflation, international conflicts, and climate change, which have pushed the world off track to end world hunger and malnutrition by 2030. These global challenges require global solutions to transform agrifood systems in today’s interconnected world.
Join people across the globe to find events organized to celebrate World Food Day and spur collective action to address food insecurity.
Upcycled Foods Help Transform Global Food Systems
The expansion of upcycled foods, nutritious food products created using the byproducts from agriculture and food manufacturing, can be a critical component in reducing global food insecurity. Upcycled Foods can help by reducing food waste, increasing the availability of affordable, nutritious foods, and providing additional jobs in the agrifood industry.
Companies such as Too Good To Go and Olio are helping to reduce food waste by sharing food products with interested consumers, rather than putting them in the trash. This can be a great way to help increase access to nutritious affordable foods while having a positive environmental impact.
Many Upcycled Food companies are also helping to increase the availability of nutritious foods by utilizing byproducts that would normally be discarded during food production. These include ingredients such as cacao fruit from chocolate manufacturing, pulp from plant milk, and fruit or vegetables that do not meet aesthetic standards for grocery sales. By reducing waste during food production, Upcycled Food manufacturers can make agrifood systems more efficient, reduce environmental impacts, and provide sustainable jobs in addition to creating delicious and healthy food products.
Jenna Swalin (she/her) is a volunteer content writer with the Upcycled Foods association. She has a degree in Environmental Studies and International Relations from the College of William & Mary and an MBA from IE Business School. She currently works in Marketing for Remitly, a financial services company dedicated to transforming the lives of immigrants and their families.
