Discuss: How Can We Tackle Food Wastage?

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    • Publish Date: Jan 10 2017 12:57PM
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    • Updated Date: Jan 10 2017 12:57PM
Discuss: How Can We Tackle Food Wastage?

According to UN’s latest data, 1.3 tons of food is wasted every year. Alarmingly, Asian countries like China and India are big contributors


Food loss and waste is a global problem. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), one third of all food produced for human consumption, roughly 1.3 billion tons, is lost or wasted. Significantly, the wastage is unaffordably high in India. What are its causes? We find out...

The cause
Lack of adequate storage facilities: According to a survey conducted by IIM- Kolkata, lack of storage facilities are a major cause of concern. If reports are to be believed, only 10 per cent foods get cold storage facility in India. Moreover, India loses nearly `93,000 crore in pre- and post-harvest – nearly 16 per cent of fruit and vegetables and 6 per cent of cereals. The warehouses are not rodent-proof either. A chunk of food stored in the storages suffers wastage due to rodents, insects and fungi.

Inappropriate supply: According to experts, 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. Lack of transport links and adequate facilities to help food to reach needy people is missing in India. Nearly 21 million tons of wheat is wasted in India each year instead of reaching the needy. That’s precisely why India ranks 63 among 88 countries in the Global Hunger Index with 20 crore Indians going to bed hungry on any 
given night.
 
Wastage at hotels, parties: India also contributes to food wastage in terms of post-consumer food waste that is thrown away by restaurants, cafes, pubs, and any kind of food bought from retailers such as bakery, supermarket, deli, fruit shops, etc. The food waste from social gatherings, wedding/official parties belongs to this post-consumer food waste 
category.


How to overcome food wastage
  • India should take a cue from global practices. For instance, France has passed a unanimous legislation requiring supermarkets to either give unsold food to charity or send it to farmers for use as feed and fertiliser. Similarly, institutions in Canada are recovering unused and unspoiled food from retailers, manufacturers, restaurants and caterers and sending them to charities 
  • Government should introduce eco-friendly and healthy food preservation techniques to preserve edible items for a longer duration
  • Government should make it mandatory for food retailers across the country to adopt technology standards that allow incentives for the customer to purchase perishable products approaching their expiration dates. This will help reduce food wastage, maximise grocery retailer revenue, and reduce the global carbon footprint to a large extent

Its impact
The alarming increase in food wastage is generating nearly 3.3 billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions, thereby severely impacting the environment. The wastage of rice in particular has serious ramifications for the environment as decaying rice releases methane, a potent global warming gas


Take a cue from this school
Students of Cotton Hill LP School, Thiruvananthapuram, are minting money from food waste. They dispose of the food waste from the breakfast and lunch served at school  into the organic waste converter (OWC), which then converts it into manure. The school has around 1,000 kids who recycle 25 kg of food waste on a daily basis. OWC produces a substantial amount of manure which is sold inside the school campus or in the local market.

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Comments

Dev Manwani FR AGNEL MULTIPURPOSE SCHOOL-AMBERN

We should eat as much as we need. We should firstly take some amount of food and then if we need we can take some more. Food is the thing which all don''t have, but those who have they don''t care for it. My request to all is not to waste food.

Manav Lodha Sindhi Model Senior Secondary School

My opinion is that we must take food a bit less than what we think we can have , and then take more if needed . This can help in tackeling food wastage problems .

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