Climate & Health

Sustainable food cold chain considered a key to reducing waste and combating climate change

Public health officials estimate millions of vaccine doses a year are wasted largely because there's no way to keep them cold. And a U.N. report estimates nearly a third of all food produced is lost or wasted, a lot of it because of spoilage.

, and Ronald Powers

November 18, 2022 . 5:18 PM

3 min read

Farmers sell their fresh-picked vegetables at community market (AN/R. Powers)

In a rapidly warming world the need to keep some things cold is growing more difficult and increasingly urgent.

Public health officials estimate that millions of vaccine doses are wasted each year, largely because in many parts of the world there is no way to keep them cold.

And a United Nations report presented this week to the U.N. climate summit in Sharm El-Sheik, Egypt, estimates that nearly a third of all the food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted, a lot of it because of spoilage.

Much of this waste, which results in billions of dollars of lost income, is in large part because farmers in the developing world lack the technology to quickly cool their harvested crops and keep them fresh for the market.