ACT on the FACT : Food wastage in India
(http://indiacivic.com/thinkaloud/act-fact-food-wastage-india/) –
(07.10.2013)
Believe us. Food
wastage cripples a countrys economy to an extent that most of us are unaware.
In India where we are have considered ourselves as a developing nation for the
last 60 years, food wastage cripples us a lot more. About 20% of what we buy in
urban India ends up being thrown away. Read this post on how we need to ACT on
the FACT to keep this country from falling apart.
FACT: According to UNDP United Nations
Development Program, about 40% of food is wasted in India.
ACT: Request all to make a conscious effort to
stop wastage of food cooked or raw.
Five more facts that we believe will drive us
in the right direction.
1. While India and
other developing nations struggle to feed all the population, its an irony that
this much of food is wasted and not a lot of people know about this.
2. This is not just a
matter of a few lakhs of rupees. If food is wasted, there is so much waste of
water used in agriculture, manpower and electricity lost in food processing
industries and even contributes to so much of deforestation that occurs because
of this sector.
3. Taking the above
into consideration, the actual worth of money per year in India from food
wastage comes to a whopping 58,000 crore.
4. According to a
survey by bhook (an organization working towards reducing hunger) in 2013, 20
crore Indians will sleep hungry at any given night. About 7 million children
died in 2012 because of hunger / malnutrition.
5. The urban Indian is
increasingly wasting more food over the years and recently contributing to about
35% of all food wasted in India.
Five things we can do in our daily life to
stop food wastage.
1. Make it a habit not
to waste any food in your plate while you have your food be in breakfast,
lunch or dinner. Make it a point to absolutely stick to it no matter how the
food tastes or was served in the first place.
2. If you cook at
home, make sure you cook keeping in mind there is no excess. You can always
complete your lunch / dinner with a few fruits rather than keep some extra food
in the refrigerator its a lot better and a healthier practice.
3. If you cook at
home, make sure your select your vegetables , cerials and others in the order
of their shelf life. Just means, if you had spinach in your refrigerator for a
while longer than other vegetables take care to use spinach. The more you
keep it, you possibly wont use it later.
4. If you work in a
company / office that has a canteen check with them on how they manage excess
food. Cooked food, especially since it has a low shelf life needs to be managed
better and faster. Check with NGOs who offer to transport excess food to the
needy.
5. If you host a
family get together either at home, a marriage hall or throw a party at a hotel
make sure you plan for the food to be transported to a place like an
orphanage / old age shelter. There is no better thing than sharing your
happiness with these people as well.
Your mother may have
said a lot of times not to waste good. Please do follow this now, no
matter if you had followed it until now or not! Please share and pass this
message along to your friends and family.