Food Banks Emissions Prevention

The Food Recovery to Avoid Methane Emissions (FRAME) shows that each food bank cuts greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions equal to removing 900 gasoline cars from the road for a year. 

About FRAME 

• It measures the emissions avoided by Work in Local Community Centers Redirecting food waste for human consumption.
• Developed by : The Global Food Banking Network (GFN), Global Methane Hub, and the Carbon Trust.
• The FRAME system was first tried in Mexico and Ecuador with six community-run food banks.
• The new  FRAME tool allows food banks, recovery organizations, and private companies to measure and manage emissions from food recovery and redistribution.

What is a food bank? 

A food bank is a non-profit organisation that provides food to people who struggle to afford enough food to avoid hunger. 

• It usually works through other organisations like food pantries and soup kitchens, though some food banks directly distribute food themselves.
• Volunteer-driven Initiatives: Food banks recover surplus food from across the food supply chain and distribute it to people facing hunger through community organisations.
• Global Impact of Food Banks

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• • 2019 Results: Food banks globally avoided over 12 million tonnes of CO2 emissions in 2019, saved 75 million tonnes of surplus food from landfills, and served over 66 million people facing hunger.
• Contribution to UN’s Target 12.3
  • Reducing Food Waste: Food banks help meet UN Target 12.3, which aims to halve food waste at retail and consumer levels and reduce losses in production and supply chains by 2030.

Food Loss and Waste (FLW) Statistics

• Global Food Loss: FAO estimates that 14% of food is lost post-harvest before reaching retailers.
  • UNEP’s Food Waste Index Report shows an additional 17% is wasted at retail and consumer levels.

• Methane from Food Waste

  • Methane’s Role: Food waste in landfills produces methane, a gas that traps 80 times more heat than CO2 in the short term, increasing global warming.

• FLW’s Contribution to Emissions

  • 2017 FLW Emissions: In 2017, food loss and waste contributed 9.3 gigatonnes of CO2 emissions.
    •  Food systems account for a third of global GHG emissions, half of which come from FLW.

• Global Hunger and Food Waste

• • Hunger in 2023: Between 713 and 757 million people faced hunger in 2023. 

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