How the World Really Works: A Scientist’s Guide to Our Past, Present and Future

by Vaclav Smil

daily average per capita requirements of adults in largely sedentary affluent populations are no more than 2,000–2,100 kilocalories, far below the actual supplies of 3,200–4,000 kilocalories.63 According to the FAO, the world loses almost half of all root crops, fruits, and vegetables, about a third of all fish, 30 percent of cereals, and a fifth of all oilseeds, meat, and dairy products—or at least one-third of the overall food supply.64 And the UK’s Waste and Resources Action Programme ascertained that inedible household food waste (including fruit and vegetable peelings, and bones) is only 30 percent of the total, meaning that 70 percent of wasted food was perfectly edible and was not consumed either because it spoiled or because too much of it was served.