Tuesday 4 June 2013

Tips to reduce food waste

Tips to reduce food waste According to FAO, nearly 1.3 billion tonnes of food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted globally, per year.

During each stage of the food supply chain (starting from production, processing, distribution, consumption to disposal), limited natural resources are used up and greenhouse gases are emitted, which contributes to climate change.

Loss and wastage of food are present in all stages of the food supply chain due to unfavourable weather conditions, pest infestations, and usage of machinery in harvesting, spoilage due to inappropriate transport, handling and storage, packaging damage, stock management inefficiencies, marketing strategies, over-purchasing, poor preparation, or incorrect serving sizes, etc.

Reduction of food waste is favourable not only for consumers and businesses alike, but for our planet as a whole too.
The United States
According to studies, 30% of all food in the United States, worth US$48.3 billion, is thrown away each year. To add to the woes, it is also estimated that about half of the water used to produce this food also goes waste, since agriculture is the largest human use of water.

The United Kingdom Food waste has remained a topic of great environmental, economic and social concern in the United Kingdom and has varying responses from the government. The global issue has been identified as a huge problem and has been the subject of ongoing media attention since 1915. In order to find a solution to food wastage, a campaign called "Love Food, Hate Waste" was also launched in 2007. Canada Canadians are among the world’s most well-fed people - so much so that they waste almost billions of dollars worth of food a year. According to studies, Canada wastes $27 billion worth of food a year. Germany According to a study conducted by the University of Stuttgart in 2012, private households, industry, retailers and the catering sector discard almost 11 million tonnes of food waste in Germany each year. Australia It is reported that about 4.5 million tonnes of food is wasted every year in Australia. A research done by the Australia Institute showed that Australians throw away about $5.2 billion worth of food every year. Denmark According to estimates, in Denmark, the percentage of food wasted by Danes is 660 kilograms each person per year. The major areas of food wastage in Denmark are waste in households, catering centers etc. Norway In Norway, about 3,35,000 tonnes of all the food being produced is ending as waste. Large amounts of food waste is undesirable for environmental, ethical and economical reasons.

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