2026-09-09 · Food calories / mass, schematic
A third of food never becomes a meal
Grow it, ship it, stock it, cook it — and still lose a third. Some disappears between farm and shop. More is thrown away in kitchens, canteens, and stores.
Food system grids split calories, waste, or production into equal bites — one cell is one fixed portion of the total. This grid divides food produced (2026 snapshot) into colored bands — Eaten, Wasted at consumption, and Lost on the way — using equal squares so you compare shares, not country size on a map.
1 cell = 0.1% of food produced (0.1% of food produced) · 1,000 cells
Context
The 2026 figures from FAO food loss put Eaten at 68% of food produced and Wasted at consumption at 19% — about 100 % of food produced in this edition's rounding.
FAO: ~13% of food lost between harvest and retail.
UNEP Food Waste Index: ~19% of food available to consumers is wasted (households, retail, food service).
FAO: ~13% of food lost between harvest and retail. UNEP Food Waste Index: ~19% of food available to consumers is wasted (households, retail, food service). Remainder treated as eaten. Cells rounded to 1,000. Percents use slightly different bases; this grid is schematic.
Share and export
Credit this grid as Inagrid — https://inagrid.com/e/2026-09-09-food-never-eaten