Limiting food wastage

We produce enough food, but too much of it ends up as waste. Every year, around 1.6 billion tons of food, which amounts to 17 per cent of total food production, is lost or wasted, according to the Food Waste Index Report 2021 by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). It is a crime. And we all are guilty of wasting food despite the fact that some 821 million people worldwide reportedly suffer from some level of malnourishment, and every five seconds an innocent child dies from hunger.
In Bangladesh, food loss and waste is a major issue. The country wastes an estimated 65 kilograms of food per person every year, says the UNEP report. It is visible especially at garbage dumps. This is a criminal waste in light of the fact that many people in our country are experiencing severe food insecurity. Few are wasting precious food and many are not getting enough of it.
Food wastage needs to be seriously dealt with in society. For many people, it has become a habit: buying more food than we need, letting fruits and vegetables spoil at home. This habit puts extra strain on our natural resources and damages our environment. When we waste food, we waste the labour, effort, investment and precious resources (like water, seeds, feed, etc.) that go into producing it. I, therefore, urge the relevant authorities to take a notice of the issue, and also request every individual to respect their food and do the needful to limit its wastage.

Afroza Sheikh,
Dania, Dhaka,
ilcbd2008@gmail.com