When we are little, we are taught to never waste food because there are a lot of people that do not have anything to eat, therefore we have to be grateful that we can. Throughout our lives we are always trying to keep up with this rule and avoid throwing food in the trash can, but have you ever considered how much food is wasted from your plate, without you seeing it or doing it yourself?. I am pretty sure many of us have gone to a restaurant and ordered more that we could eat so we just leave it on the plate, which the restaurant is obliged to throw away. In fact, only in the US, restaurants waste around 22 to 33 billion pounds of food per year, especially since 4 to 10% of the food bought by restaurants is being disposed of before reaching its consumer; and hotels, schools and other institutions cause an additional 7 to 11 billion pounds (Food Print, 2021).
It may seem obvious that hunger is associated with high poverty levels, but it goes beyond not having enough money to buy food, it is also related to having low quality hygiene, sanitation and water; leading to scarce access to health and educational services (Action Against Hunger, 2021). Moreover, there is another factor contributing to famine, a factor that we tend to ignore, which is conflict. According to the UN security council, undernourishment and hunger are higher when institutions are weak and conflicts are prolonged, which could be even worsened with climate-related shocks (Action Against Hunger, 2021). Of course, these are not the only variables, it also includes weather-related events affecting food-availability and rising food insecurity; as well as economic declines which could make it difficult to have access to food in some countries (Actions Agains Hunger, 2021).
I cannot say I have experienced hunger, thankfully, not even close to me; but as I already mention I do make a huge effort on avoiding food waste at all cost and I have researched a lot about food waste in crops. My family has an investing project consisting in a crop of Hydrangeas, which is a type of flower, and in order to avoid the losses in production, they are installing a system called tutorado. This system helps avoid the losses in production, and in fact, it is also used in crops of vegetables such as tomatoes, beans, eggplants, peppers, cucumbers, etc (EcoAgricultor, 2015). Furthermore, these type of products are the ones that have the highest percentages of losses at consumer level (fruits 19% and vegetables 22%) (Food Print, 2021). It is relevant to say that farms do not only depend on how much people are willing to eat their products, but they are also limited by weather, pests and costs (Food Print, 2021). Clearly, farmers are not able to control the weather, and in order to control pests they usually have to rise their production cost, entering a competitive market, especially in Colombia.
Moreover, the pandemic has not really been of any help in terms of food waste. Farmers and cropowners lost a significant part of their food production due to the closure of restaurants and other food businesses, which led many of them to deposit almost 3,7 million gallons of milk every day on the fields to avoid additional costs of processing and harvesting (Food Print, 2021). This situation has caused that from the 160 billion pounds of wasted food per year, around 125 is edible and nutritious; if we used food correctly, there would be enough to feed everyone in the globe, since production is not the problem, but still over 690 million people are still suffering from hunger (Action Against Hunger, 2021).
In addition, something that calls my attention from this matter, which I did not know, is that this situation is not only causing social and economic problems, but environmental issues as well. According to statistics shared in Food Print (2021), the largest factor of municipal solid waste is uneaten food and in landfills it is decomposed into methane. Moreover, a study done by McKinsey, a consulting group, household food losses, on average, are responsible for 8 times the energy waste of farm-level food and food waste is responsible for over 25% of freshwater consumption in the US every year, therefore, being the main cause of water pollution (Food Print, 2021). Clearly, the priority would be to feed the hungry people and provide them with the necessary nutrients to live a healthy life, but we cannot ignore the side effects our ignorance and disgratefulness is causing.
Finally, I have been researching on what I could do to help from my home. I am aware it is not enough but with little actions, and cooperation we can have a significant impact. Therefore, I would like to share some things we can do to lower food waste. According to the BBC's blog, Good Food, there are some ways in which we, in our daily lives, can help lower the impact of this situation. First, we should get into the habit of planning ahead, that way we won't over buy nor over cook and have leftovers (Immediate Media Company, n.d.). Also, be aware of the use-by dates when buying food, that way you will be aware on how fast will your food expire and try to use it before it does and finally, freeze some food and use leftover veggies (Immediate Media Company, N.d).
References:
Action Against Hunger. (2021). World hunger: key facts and statistics in 2021. Retrieved from: https://www.actionagainsthunger.org/world-hunger-facts-statistics
EcoAgricultor. (2015). La sujeción de las plantas o tutorados. Sacado de: https://www.ecoagricultor.com/tutorado-sujecion-plantas/
Food Print. (2021). The Problem of Food Waste. Retrieved from: https://foodprint.org/issues/the-problem-of-food-waste/#:~:text=Food%20Loss%20on%20Farms&text=Yet%2020%20billion%20pounds%20of,by%20weather%2C%20pests%20and%20disease.
Immediate Media Company. (N.d). How to reduce food waste. Retrieved from: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/how-reduce-food-waste
TRT. (19th February 2019). The world's food waste problem. [video file]. Youtube. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3m2KglQuevo
Sabah, D. (2015). UN: Ending world hunger will cost $267 billion per year. Retrieved from: https://www.dailysabah.com/world/2015/07/10/un-ending-world-hunger-will-cost-267-billion-per-year
ReplyDeleteReading what you just mention above, it is devastating to know all that food that’s being wasted and no one takes action about it, I know that to combat hunger certain measures must be taken and hygiene must be one of them, that’s why I think that places such as crops, super markets, must take an action for example done those crops and food that won’t be sold because of small defects. it might be small action, but small actions can become a big movement. With the solutions you have in mind, I find them great, in my house we are all in charge of not wasting food and trying to reduce it to the minimum. I feel the pain you feel with just thinking about those who feel hunger and I would love to make part of a change.