It’s World Hunger Day, and that naturally got me thinking about food. For something a little bit different, I've rounded up some surprising info about food waste. I'm not talking about orange peel or chocolate bar wrappers, I'm talking about the thousands of tons and billions of dollars of food that get thrown in the bin every year. Here are seven facts that are food for thought. Let's go!

1. The problem is bigger than you might think.

In the United States 30% of all food, worth US$48.3 billion (£31.5 billion), is thrown away each year. Last year in the UK we wasted enough food to fill a football stadium four times over.

Imagine four of these full of food waste

2. It’s the perfect example how economically imbalanced our world is.

Every year, consumers in rich countries waste almost as much food (222 million tonnes) as the entire net food production of sub-Saharan Africa (230 million tonnes).

3. Reducing food waste is good for the planet.

3.3 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases are added to the atmosphere annually through the production of food that is never eaten, and the world's poorest people are very vulnerable to the effects climate change.

4. It hurts your wallet.

The amount of food we’re wasting is costing the average UK family £700 ($1076) every year. Studies show that a huge portion of global food waste comes from overbuying at supermarkets.

5. It affects those in extreme poverty in ways you might not expect.

When food is wasted, the water used to produce it is also wasted. Fresh water is an increasingly scarce resource for those living below the poverty line, and the poor are the least able to pay to have water brought in from elsewhere.

6. Things are changing!

Since organisations like Love Food Hate Waste have started taking action, food waste in the UK alone has reduced by 21%, saving billions of pounds. This is only the beginning though…

7. It’s something you can change right now!!

If all of us stopped wasting food that could have been eaten, it would be the equivalent to taking 1 out of every 4 cars off the road, thereby saving the lives of thousands of people living in extreme poverty at risk from climate change. If you Live Below the Liners need any tips, these websites are superb resources, with extensive how-to guides on getting your food waste down: http://england.lovefoodhatewaste.com/ or http://thinkeatsave.org/

More info on Live Below the Line can be found here: https://www.livebelowtheline.com/uk,