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By Wayne Campbell
“Considerable quantities of food are loss and wasted across the provision chain and at the patron level. We are able to do higher.”- Rosa Rolle, FAO, Senior Enterprise Development Officer.
Nobody can dispute that we waste an infinite amount of food on a day by day basis. This food loss is valued at US$400 billion dollars yearly. The United Nations General Assembly designated 29 September because the International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste (IDAFLW). The theme this yr is ‘Stop Food Waste! For People and Planet’. The day is co-convened by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Reducing food losses and waste is critical in a world where thousands and thousands of individuals go to bed hungry nightly which is unacceptable. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations states roughly 14 percent of the world’s food is lost after harvest, as much as but not including the retail stage of the provision chain, and an estimated 17 per cent is wasted in retail and on the consumption level. This food loss and waste account for 8 -10 per cent of the overall global greenhouse gases (GHGs) contributing to an unstable climate and extreme weather events equivalent to droughts and flooding. These changes negatively impact crop yields, reduce the dietary quality of crops, cause supply chain disruptions and threaten food security and nutrition. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, specifically SDG 12, goal 12.3 calls for halving per- capita global food waste on the retail and consumer levels and reducing food losses along production and provide chains. Disturbingly, an estimated 3.1 billion people worldwide shouldn’t have access to a healthy food plan and a few 828 million people go hungry. Undoubtedly, there’s an urgent must speed up motion to cut back food loss and waste.
With eight years left to achieve the goal, the urgency for scaling up motion to cut back food loss and waste can’t be overemphasized.
The IDAFLW will make a transparent call to motion for private and non-private entities, from across the food system, and consumers to work together to chop food loss and waste (FLW) to mitigate climate change, and support food security and nutrition.
Reducing food loss and waste presents a possibility for immediate climate advantages while improving the general sustainability of our food systems a needed transformation to make sure higher planetary and dietary outcomes for current and future generations. There’s a bent for us not to take a look at the environment concerning food loss. For instance, when food is thrown away in landfills, it rots and releases much more greenhouse gasses into the environment. Keeping food waste out of landfills is one technique to help the environment.
As consumers all of us have a component to play in reducing food loss. Too a lot of us are likely to cook greater than we are able to eat or store properly all which ends up in waste. The time to revisit this cultural outlook regarding food requires an interrogation and a change of mindset. This alteration of consumer behaviour is not going to be easy; nevertheless, it’s achievable and should be done with a view to reduce food loss and waste.
Within the words of Tristram Stuart, cutting food waste is a delicious way of saving money, helping to feed the world and protecting the planet.
Wayne Campbell is an educator and social commentator with an interest in development policies as they affect culture and or gender issues. [email protected] @WayneCamo
© #IDAFLW #InternationalDayOfAwarenessOfFoodLossAndWaste #foodsecurity #foodloss
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