Posted: April 13th, 2023

Save Food, Save Planet

The first thing that comes to the mind after reading the topic is: ‘How not wasting food would save the planet? ’ ‘What effect does wastage of food has on the environment or the planet? ’ ‘What exactly makes all that waste and its emissions? ’ The answer is very simple if we pause to ponder. Food waste is not just consumers throwing dinner scraps away. Producing, distributing, storing and cooking food uses energy, fuel and water. Each of these emits greenhouse gases contributing to climate change.
Looking at emissions of uneaten food from farm to table, the researchers found that food wasted at the consumer phase had the highest carbon footprint. Some food spoils before farmers can harvest it, other food goes bad on its way from the farm to the market, and still more food ends up rotting on supermarket shelves that's because by the time food gets to that stage, it's already accumulated emissions from production, harvest, and distribution. In other words, when chuck food that you buy at the supermarket, you're throwing away every part of the process that has gotten it there, as well.
Then, some kinds of food waste create more emissions than others. Wasted fruit, for example, has a relatively small ratio of food waste to carbon emitted. Meat's ratio is much larger. That's because meat production is exceptionally carbon intensive. Of course, carbon emissions are not the only way in which wasted food harms the environment. A report finds that wasted food consumes an amount of water almost three times as large as Switzerland's Lake Geneva! And that's to say nothing of the human impact of all this food waste. In the coming years, the global population is expected to hit 8 billion.

How are we going to feed everyone? There are many arguments going on related to this but what I evenly say is we should start figuring out how to eat the food that we produce instead of throwing it away since If we stop throwing this good food away it would save the equivalent of at least 17 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, the same as taking 1 in every 5 cars off our roads and this is what I am going to emphasize on. So, yea that's right folks, stop throwing out food. Eat everything on your plate just like your mom taught you. If you can't eat it all, take smaller portions.
It’s easy for us all to make to make a difference on individual base. First of all, stick to the motto ‘LOVE FOOD, HATE WASTE’! Secondly, start planning, since it works for almost everything. Think ahead to what the week has in store - look in the fridge, freezer and cupboard, make a simple list so you only buy what you need. Make the most of your fruit and vegetables. Did you know? Apples last even longer when you keep them in the fridge – up to two weeks longer if loosely wrapped. And if they’ve had a knock, try putting them in a crumble, a sauce or start the day with a smoothie. Thirdly, Freeze!
Since, food can be frozen any time before the ‘use by’ date on the label. Then when you have an evening where you don’t feel like cooking, take it out of the freezer, defrost and use within 24 hours. Fourthly, get a pet! Chickens should be the priority as you can turn those leftover scraps into eggs for your breakfast but dogs would do as well since they will eat almost anything, even those fish burgers you like so much. At last, I would like to say that ‘Yes, It is as simple as that! ’ If we try, each one of us we can save millions of malnutritioned children, habitats of thousands of endangered species and on a whole our planet.