UNITED NATIONS - Almost one-fifth of all food that’s produced to be eaten by consumers goes to waste, the UN Environmental Program (UNEP) said in a new report, noting that most of the waste (61 percent) is actually produced by households. The global food waste index, released by the UNEP on Thursday, found that 17 percent of the food – some 931 million tons – produced in 2019 ended up in bins. The startling figure does not include food that was wasted during production or while in storage and which never made it to consumers. Inger Andersen, executive director of the UNEP, said that reducing food waste would cut greenhouse gas emissions, slow the destruction of nature, enhance food availability and save money at a time of global recession. The UNEP said that 690 million people were affected by hunger in 2019 and three billion unable to afford a healthy diet.