Keep Wasting and Stay Hungry

16^th October is celebrated the world over as World Food Day. Bet you didn’t know that. Well, I didn’t. What pops into our minds when we think of this day? World hunger? Shortage of food? Wastage of food? Yes, all of it.  Let us concentrate on wastage here, though. After all each one of us is contributing to it on a personal level. It is estimated that the amount of food wasted on a daily basis, around the world is enough to feed up to 3 billion people. In India alone around 40 to 45% of the food produced is wasted, i.e a whopping 58,000 crores, according to the Food and Agricultural Ministry. Of course this is because of various factors like an increase in population, lack of proper facilities to store food, climate changes, hoarding, inflation, etc. But we also waste food on a personal level too. We, Indians tend to live large; sometimes larger than what our wallet allows for various social reasons. Huge weddings and lavish parties are a norm. Have you ever wondered what happens to the food that is leftover from such parties? There is little or no awareness regarding re-cycling or re-distribution of food. Although, to give credit where it is due, this is fast changing.

So the question often repeated is, if I stop wasting food on a personal level, will it reach the guy who is sleeping hungry? Is it possible to route my wastage to the hungry millions? Not in the practical sense. As such, we may not be able to distribute this food to the hungry every day. Though there are a lot of initiatives that collect and re-distribute waste food from restaurants and parties to the poor and hungry.

As of today, the world produces enough food to feed twice the world population and yet ironically, billions cannot afford this available food and go to bed hungry. In India alone, 20 crore sleep hungry on any given night and 7 million children died in 2012 due to hunger and malnutrition (According to a survey by Bhook, one such organisation that concerns itself with food wastage and hunger issues).

It is estimated that by 2050, the earth’s population will reach 9 billion and subsequently, we will have to increase food production by 70%. Various factors as we all know have an effect on food shortage. Factors such as climate-change, increase in food prices and mainly wastage of food globally, will all be contributing towards this shortage.

So how do we, on a personal level, make a positive contribution to make an impact on this malady?

There is a callous disregard for the amount of food that is wasted, by the people who “can pay for it.” If you were to attend any Indian wedding or a buffet you will find people especially children, who will take more food on their plate than they can eat, ultimately throwing it into bins. Attend a buffet and there is a scramble to taste every item on display. People tend to binge eat. They will help themselves to generous portions, only to leave it on their plates. Ultimately it goes down the drain or more specifically, trash chutes. At home too, where we cook for our families, we will always have leftovers, which may be stored away in a refrigerator, with the intention of being re-used. But I bet more often than not, we will throw it away because we do not like to eat the same food again.

Children tend to waste food a lot more and sensitising them to this issue is the urgent need of the hour. Develop a food conscience in them. Drill it into them that when they are wasting food they are denying someone else the right to have access to that food. It actually works. As a youngster, I was a picky eater too. So I did not think too much about leaving food on my plate and gave little thought to wastage. I had this one good friend who became my conscience. Every time I pushed away my plate with food in it, he would go “millions of children go to bed…” and it worked for me. I learnt to look at food and its wastage differently. I developed a food conscience. As a result I stopped taking more than I could eat and later as I cooked for my family, I learnt to cook on a need to basis. 

By taking more than you need, you are denying another person the right to have that food. Even though you may not actually go around distributing the food, you are avoiding the pressure on resources which are already scarce and hence reducing the amount somebody else down the line may have to pay for it. In the bargain, increasing the chances of scarcity and contributing to inflation. So steadily the poor are able to afford less and less while the ones who can afford keep buying and throwing food.

We need to think before we throw. Some things we can change in our homes itself.

·       Whenever you host a family function like weddings and birthday parties etc. plan the food carefully. Look up and contact NGO’s who will later come by and collect the leftovers so it will be re-distributed to the needy. That will be so many less hungry stomachs for that day.

·       What about the food that is cooked in our kitchens every day? How can we avoid wasting that extra bowl of rice or that two or three extra chapattis that no one wanted? One simple solution is to recycle.  No, not recycle as in composting it (oh well that that too if the food goes rotten and you have the place for it) but reusing it again in a different form. The internet throws up umpteen ideas on how to re-serve these leftovers in a different avatar. Be creative. Sometime your family will not even guess that it is re-cycled food.

·       Make kids more aware about wasting food and it consequences. Lead by example, by finishing the food in your plate. It will become a habit. Talk to them about world hunger and how they will be doing their bit for the world. Kids today are smart. While they may seem stubborn and demanding to you, they will definitely agree with you, if you can show them the bigger picture. Tell them how they are doing their bit for the world. They love that. It makes them feel important. And most importantly you will be teaching them to think beyond their own needs and demands. You will be teaching them selflessness. Show them how the other half lives.  

·       It is estimated that even in a third world country like India almost 20% of what we buy goes waste. That is we tend to buy more than we can realistically consume. So check your grocery list. Let it be more realistic. Don’t do impulsive buying.

There is nothing new in what I am saying. But time and again we need to remind ourselves and those around us of the responsibilities we owe not only to the society around us but to the generations that come after us. Don’t let your waste become the death of another. Take that first step today and do that bit for the world we are living in. So the next time you have that plate poised over the bin, STOP. THINK. AVOID. RE-USE.

Wastage affects everyone, including you.