"There is no sincerer love than the love of food."
- George Bernard Shaw
In one of the veda’s there is sentence "Annam
Brahmann" means food is God. Our ancestors have given so much importance
to food in life. They also say my body, mind and soul is made from what we eat.
Do not ridicule Food. Do not waste food. Do not criticize the quality of food.
Food is the source of energy. But in spite of these words, India Ranks Seventh
in overall food waste (agriculture produce, poultry and dairy).
I have heard people saying ‘Am a complete foodie’ or ‘Am a
food lover’. But same person has wasted food. If you say you are a food lover
then you should also make sure it should not be wasted either. We should order
only what we can eat. Do not order more and waste food. One should eat to live
and not live to eat. We cannot completely do away with food waste but we
definitely can minimize it. One third of the food produced going into waste.
Apart from the wastage of the food produced, the resources
lost in the form of inputs during food production are also considerable. For
instance, 25 per cent of fresh water, used to produce food, is ultimately
wasted, even as millions of people still don’t have access to drinking water.
In addition, approximately 45 per cent of India’s land is degraded primarily
due to deforestation, unsustainable agricultural practices, and excessive
groundwater extraction to meet the food demand.
A recent study conducted by Indian Institute of Management,
Kolkata, revealed that only 10 per cent of foods get cold storage facility in
India, this factor, accompanied by inappropriate supply chain management, has
resulted in India becoming a significant contributor towards food wastage both
at pre and post harvest waste in cereals, pulses, fruits and vegetables. India
ranks 63 among 88 countries in Global Hunger Index with 20 crore Indians
sleeping hungry on any given night, but in spite of this, nearly 21 million
tonnes of wheat are wasted in India each year instead of reaching the needy.
It is also difficult to manage the food waste. Government or
world community need to invest in technology which helps eco-friendly and
healthy food preservation. There are many startups has come up and working on
food waste management from couple of years. But they need more support from
public as well as the local governing bodies. In Bangalore, BBMP is the local
governing body which needs to educate the people to segregate the wet waste. It
also needs to strictly monitor the waste management firms for which they have given
tenders.
Here are 10 facts you might not know about food waste:
1.
1.3 billion tons of food are wasted every year
2.
This amounts to US$1 trillion dollars of wasted or lost
food
3.
If wasted food was a country, it would be the third
largest producer of carbon dioxide in the world, after the United States and
China
4.
Just one quarter of all wasted food could feed the 795
million undernourished people around the world who suffer from hunger
5.
Food waste in rich countries (222 million tons) is
approximately equivalent to all of the food produced in Sub-Saharan Africa (230
million tons)
6.
A European or North American consumer wastes almost 100
kilograms of food annually, which is more than his or her weight (70 kilograms)
7.
A European or North American consumer wastes 15 times
more food than a typical African consumer
8.
Lack of technology and infrastructure is the main cause
of food waste in Africa, as opposed to household food waste in the developed
world
9.
Food waste in Europe alone could feed 200 million
hungry people
10.
Food waste generates 3.3 billions tons of carbon
dioxide, which accelerates global climate change.
