Food waste: Causes and Solutions
Food is a basic need that no human alive can do without it. However, in today's world, up to 800 million people face hunger. Surprising enough, the food we produce is sufficient to feed them twice over. In addition to being torn worlds apart from the place of food production, it is estimated that a third of the world's produce goes to waste; these are the two main factors attributing to the massive number of hunger-struck humans. A third of the world's produce is enough to feed two billion people, thus following these statistics no single person should suffer from hunger in an ideal situation.
Waste of Fruits and Vegetables
Globally, fruits and vegetables are wasted at a higher rate than other foods. This is because they are very perishable and easily bruised. Most of the food waste occurs in the supply chain, especially during picking and sorting where most food is lost due to aesthetics. It is therefore imperative to embrace gleaning of crops and eating the ugly. Instead of food going to waste, people are encouraged to donate to charity.
The Environmental Toll of Food Waste
Further, food waste takes an environmental toll as well. Production of food that is not consumed squanders water, pesticides, fertilizers, energy, fuel, seeds, and land used to grow the food. Shockingly, these quantities are of a significant amount. Such staggering numbers have raised eyebrows to the urgency of reducing food waste. Some critical steps have been made to combat food waste production. For instance, some US schools not only embrace sharing tables during lunch but also allocate more time for lunch and schedule it after recess. On an individual level, it is important to shop at stores offering misshapen food, buy fresh food at a local farmers' market, buy frozen foods, and take home leftovers to reduce waste.
