• Question: How is food science helping to reduce food waste?

    Asked by cast532peck on 23 Sep 2025.
    • Photo: Liz Barron-Majerik

      Liz Barron-Majerik answered on 23 Sep 2025:

      Scientists are working on new varieties of plants that produce fruit / vegetables / seeds that last longer. This means they will have more time to get from harvest to your plate without going bad!

    • Photo: Duncan Smallman

      Duncan Smallman answered on 23 Sep 2025:

      There are many projects looking at potentially turning waste into a feedstock for other industries, known as the circular economy. In this it means that there is no waste going to landfill or compost but being used for things such as sustainable packing or other sustainable materials. There are projects looking at various forms of stabilisation to help prevent spoilage and increase shelf life, reducing the likelihood these food stuffs will end up as food waste.

    • Photo: Luke Fountain

      Luke Fountain answered on 23 Sep 2025:

      Even in space exploration, we are thinking about challenges like this. As Duncan mentioned, a circular economy is what we need to achieve to be more sustainable, and there are lots of ways that food science can help with this. Growing plants in space is important for many reasons, but we need to learn how to grow these plants with recycled waste such as astronaut urine and faeces, non-edible parts of plants, and waste food. This may not be ideal for many plants because the nutrients available can vary a lot, but if we can learn to do this in space, this will filter back down to Earth. If we can grow plants using waste food that we’ve turned into nutrients, we will reduce our food waste. This is just one of many ways NASA and other space agencies are working to help reduce food waste and improve sustainability as we learn to live and work in deep space.

    • Photo: Eleftheria Stavridou

      Eleftheria Stavridou answered on 24 Sep 2025:

      Food science helps reduce waste through smart packaging, better storage, and new processing techniques that keep food fresh longer. For example, edible coatings or controlled-atmosphere packaging slow ripening and spoilage. As plant scientists, we contribute by developing crop varieties with longer shelf life, stronger skins, and higher resistance to damage or decay. This way, fruits, vegetables, and grains stay fresher from farm to fork, meaning less food gets lost along the way.

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