A recent UN report highlighted that “an estimated one-third of food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted, amounting to 1.3 billion tons per year”. If the world is to feed its seven billion inhabitants – a population predicted to climb to over nine billion by 2050, the wastage number looks more than alarming, the report added.
My grand father (an amazing soul!) used to impart that each grain as God’s gift. “Athithi Devo Bhava”, is a tribute paid to Annalakshmi, the Goddess of plenty. Wasting food is scoffing the deity. We are, ironically, ‘modernised’. Sip half cup of tea, leave the rest, probably that is deemed ‘etiquette’. Food courts are renowned for lavish wastage of food. I used to wonder at Dubai, where I lived for about a decade, for so many reasons, except when it would be depressing and painful to sight at the volume of food wasted at the food courts, specifically in the huge malls.
Back home in Bangalore, I have known of a local mutt (a term used for religious establishment of Hinduism and usually more formal and hierarchical), probably there may be many, where during lunch (blessed food), heaps of rice would be served, nay pushed on the plantain leaf without ever looking at the person , adult or child, leaving a despicable display of huge left-overs. When queried the manager, he laughed it off as a non-event! We see a few, in extravagant parties, fill their plates like there is no tomorrow, and throw major portion of it away, cautioning a need for a social movement to curb the desire of ostentation. Food is an integral part of our culture. Be it a wedding, an informal get-together or even someone's death, Indian ceremonies and customs are intrinsically tied to the concept of organising lavish feasts.
At the first World Food Conference (1974) at Rome, Henry Kissinger made a laudable pledge. “In ten years’ time, no child will go to bed hungry”. A reason for optimism. For years, global food production increased faster than the rate of population growth. Still, by the mid-nineties about half a billion reported as undernourished, only to revive the “hungry” war again.
Consumers in the West waste lots of food, which speaks of western hypocrisy about the Third world. No wonder, you and I are witnesses to the legacy of Haves and the Have-nots. In developing nations, lack of transportation, inadequate storage and processing facilities leads to losses. Government allowing food stocks to rot is one side. On the other, it is sad that hungry children beg on the streets for a morsel, competing with stray dogs in garbage bins!
At times, it takes efforts to keep the produce fresh. Spinach, for instance, must be dipped in cold water or it quickly wilts. Where the infrastructure doesn’t exist, the situation is worse. Our friends toss out everything from bananas that have turned brown to last week’s ‘Chinese’ left over. Half the loaf of bread goes stale, because no one wants to eat sandwiches "today". “Why should I care? I paid for it” seems the attitude. Is it wrong to infer that obesity in the opulence is proportionately related to the malnourishment among the poor? When you drop the food-waste in the bin, it is like contaminating the world.
How do we organise our lives to minimise the food waste? When it comes to food, we do weekly shopping. Often people buy food to cook, when their life style has become eating out most of the week. Many eat more than the physical needs, again a significant life-style problem. Affluence is ignorant of famine? Why not restaurants impose a penalty on the left-overs, especially where buffet meal is served. Isn't it true that we often fall for malls’ marketing gimmicks? Proper education would reduce this malady. Children should be trained to finish all the food on their plates. Pause for a moment, think if you would actually need that many, before you do grocery shopping. Always, carry a plastic bag or food container so that you can pack unfinished food. Food courts have a big potential in terms of raising awareness.
If you consider the galloping food inflation, your overshopping habits probably needs to be pondered. Why buy two bags of tomatoes, when your need is one? When you go to a supermarket without a proper shopping list, it is very much possible you end up piling up your trolley with whatever items catch your eye. Write a food diary to see how much you eat and how much you throw away. Over a week you will know what food you need when you head to a shop and what in your fridge might be going waste. Food saved is food produced, true?
At schools, students, parents and staff should be inspired to pack a waste-free lunch. Promote a sale in which waste-free lunch vendors are invited and sell their products. Students can sit next to the vendors with waste-free ideas. They can create a display that compares the economic, health and environmental costs of a waste-free lunch vs. Other types, and show an example of a waste-free lunch and a waste-ful lunch.
Overall, the remedy warrants a human disposition. Charity begins at home. It doesn’t require a religion to preach; just be ordinary to realise it. We send rockets to the space, produce IT wizards .... Is it that hard to put an end to the food wastage? Wasting food appears a curiosity of modern life. It is one of the issues on which the universe is in agreement – bad.
Happy World Food Day!
Your feedback is welcome at: krs1957@hotmail.com
No comments:
Post a Comment