One Billion Tonnes

THE UNITED NATIONS Environ­ment Programme (UNEP) comes out with a food waste index report and one just released shows that 1.05 billion tonnes of food was wasted in a year. Most of it, over 60 per cent, is by households followed by the food service sector at a little under 30 per cent. To appreciate such waste, it has to be put against another column on the page that says hunger touches 783 million people in the world. In money terms, $1 trillion worth of food escapes the chain. And it is not just that this waste could be put to better use, its mere existence leads to environmental dam­age. As the report says, “Food loss and waste generates 8-10 per cent of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions— almost five times the total emissions from the aviation sector.”

There is a catch in that the definition of the waste includes inedible parts of the food. You wouldn’t, for instance, think of the banana peel as food. It is considered waste because there is really nothing to be done with it from a common man’s point of view. And no hungry person will be enthusiastic about eating it either. It is still however material that can be put to use. Burying it would make the soil more fertile, for instance. Most people just don’t have the time or inclination to do it. What is therefore needed are systemic infra­structure and incentives to encourage such behaviour.

A country like India will have a long way to go before it becomes aware of curtailing food waste. There are cultural mechanisms that do it. You will often hear sayings in different languages about respecting that food on your plate and never to let leftovers remain. Those are throwbacks of a poverty-ridden society where food was scarce. We are becoming increasingly wealthier and numerous government schemes pro­vide for subsidised or free rations. The curve of food waste will only keep going up, for the time being at least. Once a country becomes fully developed and First World, consciousness about waste and environment seep in substantially. For instance, the two countries which have been success stories when it came to food waste are Japan and the UK. The UNEP report says, “Countries such as Japan and the UK show that change at scale is possible, with reductions of 18 per cent and 31 per cent respectively. Governments, cities, municipalities, and food businesses of all sizes should work collaboratively to reduce food waste and help householders to act.”

But how does any municipality in India, which does not even have the competence or drive to make people segregate their garbage into wet and dry bins, be able to go even more granular into food waste. They might form some policy, make some guidelines and send a directive and then it will all go into the black hole of good intentions without execution. The ideal is a sound one. There is no reason for humans to want to waste anything but when it comes to not doing it, it is always a complex story.

About The Author

Madhavankutty Pillai

Madhavankutty Pillai has no specialisations whatsoever. He is among the last of the generalists. And also Open chief of bureau, Mumbai  

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