EFFECTS OF FOOD WASTAGE

Causes, Effects and Solutions to Growing Problem Food Waste:-

In the most recent years, food waste has become a complex phenomenon attracting the attention of scientists, consumers, and activists alike. It’s been termed as a global paradox regarding the manner in which emphasis is put on agriculture to improve food security and then a third of all the food produced ends up as waste. This is according to FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) report in 2013 indicating that the food waste globally sums to one-third of the total food produced for human consumption, about 1.6 billion tons a year.

The reason it’s becoming a huge concern is the economic, social, and environmental costs associated with it. BFCN (Barilla Center for Food and Nutrition) defines food waste as the waste or food losses that occur during industrial processing, distribution, and consumption. Understanding and ending food waste has therefore been a priority among nonprofit organizations and governments which leads us to discussion on the causes, effects, and solutions to food waste.

Various Causes of Food Waste :-

1. Lack of appropriate planning :-

One of the top contributors to food wastage is because of a lack of appropriate planning on the consumer part. Sometimes people buy lots of food without appropriately making plans on when and how the food will be prepared for consumption. Coupled with the contemporary schedules of work and appointments, people, therefore, tend to change food preparation plans or fail to remember using it on time.

At times it’s out of most people’s control which leads to the expiry of the foods after which they are thrown as waste. Also due to lack of appropriate planning, people find themselves having badly prepared food that just doesn’t taste great. It all ends up as waste.

                    

2. Purchase and preparation of too much food:-

Most of the time, food is also wasted because of purchasing or preparing too much. If one purchases or prepares too much food than is needed, then it’s obvious the excess food on the plate will go to waste. In such scenarios, leftovers and partially used food account for the food that goes to waste.

Alternatively, the partially used food is at times put at the back of the fridge and is never reused. The same applies to excess purchases that end up passing their expiration dates and therefore looks, tastes, and smells bad. At the end of it all, all the excess ends up as waste food.

3. Managerial, financial and technical constraints:-

This is mainly a challenge contributing to food wastage in developing countries. The wastage takes place because of the constraints to do with a lack of proper management, inadequate finances, and technical difficulties in the lines of harvesting methods, storage, and cooling problems in adverse weather conditions, processing, packaging, infrastructure, and marketing systems.

Effects of Food Waste:-

1. Biodiversity loss:-

Food wastage impacts on biodiversity loss at a global level. In order to maximize agricultural yields, farmers have increasingly invaded wild areas in search of more fertile lands which has led to the loss of biodiversity. The reason for this is that practices such as slash and burn, deforestation, and conversion of wild areas into farmlands have destroyed the natural ,habitats for birds, fish, mammals, and amphibians.

Agricultural practices such as mono-cropping have also compounded biodiversity loss. The mass rearing of livestock for consumption and the use of pesticides in crop production has also significantly contributed to nitrogen, phosphorous, and chemical pollution in streams, rivers, and coastal waters thus affecting marine life.

2. Wastage of the 1/3 of the world fertile land areas:-

According to research, the produced but unconsumed food accounts for approximately 1.4 billion hectares of land, constituting almost 1/3 of the planet’s agricultural land. By looking at this from a well thought analytical angle, the world is wasting 30 percent of the world’s fertile land which could be used for other meaningful purposes such as environmental research.

Amazing Solutions to Food Waste:-

1. Balancing food production with demand:-

Foremost, precedence should be centered on balancing food production with the demand to reduce the problem of food wastage. The first thing is to cut back on the use of natural resources in food production. In hotels, restaurants, and the foodservice industry, risk management tools can be applied.

Such a tool will work towards ensuring managers and chefs only produce and cook food in accordance with demand or the orders made. Producing large batches of food has always resulted in food wastage. So in trying to save food, labor, and money, hotels and the entire foodservice industry should work on the production of small batches or use the cook-to-order option.

2. Consumers to buy and prepare food with a plan:-

The use of meal plans in preparing food can go a long way in ending food wastage. Consumers should only buy food according to their plans or in small batches to reduce the food that goes to waste due to expiration after long storage periods.

3. Food recycling:-

Food recycling efforts are already underway but the technologies and methods used should be bettered. Starch-rich foodstuffs such as crisps, bread, biscuits, and breakfast cereals can, for instance, be recycled into high quality feeds for livestock.

The recycling of the food packaging materials can equally reduce over-exploitation of virgin material. If it’s completely unfit for consumption, it can still be converted for other uses instead of being taken to the landfills to emit methane gas.