World anti-food waste campaign activated

The 2013 World Environment Day is being commemorated today, June 5, under the theme “Think-Eat-Save: Reduce Your Foodprint”, to draw the attention of the global public to food security, supply and conservation.

The United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) and the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the UN are using the day to both raise awareness and to take practical actions whether in homes, farms, supermarkets, canteens, hotels or anywhere else where food is prepared and consumed.

“It is an ethical, economic and environmental issue given the enormous waste of energy, water, fertilizers and other inputs as a result of food that is produced but never eaten”, said the UN Under-Secretary General and UNEP Executive Director, Achim Steiner.

 

Think.Eat.Save is an anti-food waste and food loss campaign that encourages you to reduce your foodprint.

According to the FAO, a third of global food production is wasted or lost. This is equivalent to the 1.3 billion tonnes of food produced in the whole of sub-Saharan Africa every year. At the same time, 1 in every 7 people in the world go to bed hungry and more than 20,000 children under the age of 5 die daily from hunger.  

Making informed decision therefore means, for example, that you purposefully select foods that have less of an environmental impact, such as organic foods that do not use chemicals in the production process. Choosing to buy locally can also mean that foods are not flown halfway across the world and therefore limit emissions, said the UNEP Executive Director.

According to United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, pests, inadequate storage facilities and inefficient supply chains are major contributors to food loss in developing countries. 

“In developed nations, food thrown away by households and the retail and catering industries rots in landfills, releasing significant quantities of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas”, he stated. 

He noted that developing country governments can work to improve essential infrastructure and maximize trade opportunities with neighbours, whilst developed nations can support fair trade and rationalize sell-by dates and other labelling systems.

Businesses can also revise their criteria for rejecting produce; and consumers can minimize waste by buying only what they need and re-using left-over food.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh