FOOD WASTE
“Even the simplest food is a gift”- Laurie Colwin. This quotation is a good example of what food means to us. Without food, mankind could not exist. Indeed, every single piece of bread that we eat is fundamental for our existence. However, approximately one third of the food produced for human consumption gets lost or wasted. The inhabitants of developed countries are not paying attention yet to this major problem, but it is expected that world population will increase to nine million inhabitants in 2050. Then, food waste would be considered a major problem. Although there are still thirty four years until this moment arrives, we have to start facing it now. In Africa, every year; five million persons die from starvation, and yet, we still waste food that can be used to feed the people that suffer and die because they do not have the enough amount of food to eat. I propose some solutions, such as: shop wisely, buy funny fruit, learn as well when food expires and eat leftovers.
WHAT IS SHOP WISELY? WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?
Well, shop wisely means: Plan meals, use shopping lists, buy from bulk bins, and avoid impulse buys. Shop wisely is greatly important in order to reduce the amount of food waste because, by planning meals, we know more or less what we are going to eat; therefore, it is easier to make shopping lists and because these menus are planned, the consequence is that people resist better to impulse buys. It is a proposal that requires great organisation from people but it can be a start to be able in the future the world. For example, in my house we shop wisely by buying products that all members of the family like.
WHAT DOES FUNNY FRUIT MEAN? WHY SHOULD WE USE THIS “SOLUTION”?
Actually, buy funny fruit means to buy fruits and vegetables that have different shape or size from the others. A lot of fruits and vegetables are thrown away just because they have a different size or shape. This is a stupid way to waste food. Because some fruits have a different shape, it does not mean they are going to taste worse than those fruits that have the regular shape. In fact, maybe it tastes even better than the regular shaped fruit that you just bought in the supermarket. This solution is as important as the others but it is easier to do and as well can reduce a great amount of food waste. Funny fruit can be found in any supermarket, so it is not difficult to find it.
WHY SHOULD WE KNOW WHEN IS THE FOOD GETTING OUT- OF- DATE? WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?
Well, expiration date means that some food after a date can get unhealthy. For example, we have a yogurt that expires in a specific date, if you eat that yogurt after the expiration date, you might get sick. So in order to reduce the amount of food waste that it is caused by this, we should first know the expiration date of that product and deem if we are able to finish it before that date. By this method, we can as well reduce huge amounts of food waste.
WHAT IS A LEFTOVER? WHY SHOULD WE EAT THEM?
A leftover is the food that we cooked the meal before and because there was a great amount of food, we packed it up and put it in the fridge. It is a simple and easy way to reduce food waste because it gives us more time to ourselves because we do not have to cook and therefore, we have more time to do whatever we want to do.
CONCLUSION
If we begin to use these methods and other ones, we can make our planet a better place and stop the starvation that it is being suffered right now by a lot of kids in undeveloped countries. We can be remember in history as the people that saved our world and the most important, as the humans that were more similar to what a human should be.
WORKS CITED
Haltz Diane. “Facts”. End Food Waste Now. Org. End Food Waste Now. 2013. 6 Mar. 2016.
Rademeyer Julian. “Do 12 Die Of Hunger Every Minute”? Africa Check. Org. AFP Foundation. 2013. 5 Mar.2016.
"Sustainable Management of Food”. EPA.gov. US environmental protection agency. 19 Feb. 2016."Sustainable Management of Food”. EPA.gov. US environmental protection agency. 19 Feb. 2016.
WOW...you have so many great ideas in this post. I agree with you and your solutions, such as: shop wisely, buy funny fruit, learn as well when food expires and eat leftovers.Shopping wisely is great, back in the US my family would make a list every time we would go to the grocery store such as "Wegmans." In Italy we only buy food when we're hungry because of all the small stores around us. On the expiration date issue my blog almost contradicts that, i found out that the expiration dates were not indicators of safety. Your point about the starving people in Africa really got me, so many people are starving there and we take it all for granted. This was especially relevant with the immigrant crises. Thank you for this insightful blog!
RispondiEliminaHi Luis,
RispondiEliminaI agree with all the amazing ideas you have about the reduction of food waste and I fully support them. Like you, I'm a blogger supporting this cause persuading people to apply different solutions to make the planet a better place and stop starvation which is a major issue affecting our society linked to the food waste issue. Applying your solutions daily, would have a great impact on the environmental and social factors but as well on an economic one helping people to shop wisely and consuming the products before the expiration dates. I also agree with the fact that food is a gift, in many parts of the world people don't have access to this precious resource so we need to preserve it and be aware of how lucky we all are to live in developed countries and have the opportunity to have everyday a complete meal. I really hope that with time and dedication we will achieve the reduction of food waste and with it decrease starvation all around the world. I find your blog complete and clear in all aspects, you have given good informations and suggestions about food waste and its reductions. However, you could have put more pictures to make in evidence the examples you have given.