A staggering amount of food is wasted every year, both in business and households. Why is this happening? What can be done to tackle this problem? Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge and experience.
In contemporary
times, a huge amount of food is ending up in waste bins. There are a plethora
of reasons for this; however, there are some measures that can be implemented
to reverse this trend.
One of the main
reasons behind this trend is the mindset of consumers, who over shop, including
perishables which is quite unnecessary, resulting in major contribution to
wastage. For example, people visiting hypermarkets, tend to fall for attractive
schemes over household items and they end up overstocking and even spending
beyond their budget. Kitchen spaces and refrigerators are overloaded with these
items which are rarely used and
eventually end up getting spoiled, or even passing their expiry dates.
Additionally, parties have been famous for ages for being lavish, resulting in
cooking more than the required quantity.
According to several types of research, approximately 40 percent of the food
prepared at a wedding is wasted and thrown away after the guests have fulfilled
their appetite, and have left.
However, this
ongoing issue can be surmounted by adopting several measures: taking an
inventory of the food stock in the house and making a grocery list before going
for shopping might help avoid purchasing unnecessary items and cut back on
potential waste. Moreover, another suggested course of action for reducing
dumping of eatables is to redirect them to food banks, and encourage more and
more people to donate the unwanted food to the needy and unfortunate. This will
not only solve the problem of those struggling with hunger but it can also
prevent an important resource from getting wasted unnecessarily.
To recapitulate, trashing
unconsumed food is a direct outcome of poor food education and ignorance;
nevertheless, consumers can be educated to be more prudent in their buying and
consumption patterns.
