Food Waste – BuddingGeographers

Food Loss	Food Waste
It refers to any food that is discarded, or disposed of along the food supply chain. According to FAO, food loss is the decrease in the quantity or quality of food resulting from decisions and actions by food suppliers in the chain, excluding retailers, food service providers and consumers. In developing countries, a large part of this food (40%) is lost at the harvest or processing stage.	It refers to the decrease in the quantity or quality of food resulting from decisions and actions by retailers, food service providers and consumers. In developed countries, 40% is lost at the consumer or retail stage from throwing away food that is not bought at stores or food that is not eaten at home or restaurants.

Why is food waste and loss a big problem?

FAO (Food and Agricultural organization of the United Nations) estimated that around 1/3 of the world’s food was lost or wasted every year. 30% for cereals, 40-50% of the fruits and vegetables, 20% for oil seeds, meat and dairy products are lost and wasted every year.

Food waste is an economic disaster:

Between 33-50% of all food produced globally is never eaten, and the value of this wasted food is worth over $1 trillion.

Food waste is morally wrong:

At the same time, 1 in 9 people on the planet are starving or malnourished. Each and every one of them could be sufficiently fed on less than a quarter of the food that is wasted in the USA, UK and Europe each year.

Food waste is an environmental disaster:

When food is disposed in a landfill it rots and becomes a significant source of methane, a potent greenhouse gas with 21 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide. Food that is never eaten accounts for 25% of all fresh water consumption globally.

Article Review: Read this article (Click here) and note down five points in your class work notebook.

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Class Work

An infographic (or information graphic) is “a visual representation of information or data”. It may denotes a collection of imagery, charts, pictures, sketches with minimal text that gives an easy-to-understand overview of a topic (refer Venngage.com for more information). Infographics can be used to illustrate data, simplifying complex information or in raising awareness.

Create your own Infographic to make people aware of the problem and dimension of food waste in your school. You can also try out Visme to make your own infographic.
Take relevant photographs using your mobile.
Create your own documentary on the problem of food waste at your school. You may use iMovie or any video editing application for this purpose.
Research on finding out the solutions to the problem. Add them in your movie or in your infographic.