Food Waste Has Created An Enemy
Achieving “Zero Hunger” is no easy task. Since the evolution of mankind humans have tried to achieve this goal. From agricultural, scientific, and mechanical methods the world has failed to achieve this goal. The goal to end hunger has been a challenge for hundreds if not, thousands of years. The goal is so important because it keeps the population healthy and at a steady growth rate. Achieving “Zero Hunger” reduces many other things like diseases, pollution, etc. The elimination of hunger reduces many other global deficiencies which is why it is such an important goal for the United Nations.
You Might Want To Think Twice Before Throwing Out Food
Many factors contribute to “why” Zero Hunger is difficult to achieve. We have adapted to all factors of life and achieved many historical goals yet, eliminating hunger has become the most challenging of all. According to Uttam, “Climate plays an important role in agriculture and changing temperatures, erratic rainfall and increasing frequency of extreme events have impacted agricultural activities everywhere, creating unfavorable conditions for food production. Further, according to the FAO, the global volume of food wastage is estimated at 1.6 billion tons of primary product equivalents. Ending food waste is therefore crucial to achieving zero hunger by 2030.” (2021) There are some factors that humans can not avoid that prolong the achievement of eliminating hunger by 2030. These factors include storms, drought, natural disasters, and climate change overall. Even though these are factors that cannot be controlled there is a factor that can be controlled to help reach the goal of “Zero Hunger.” This goal is the elimination of waste.
Food waste is one of the largest contributing factors to the uneven distribution of food around the world. From restaurants to large corporations the amount of food waste produced is at a shocking, unacceptable level. According to Uttam, “in the United States, food waste is estimated at between 30–40 percent of the food supply. This figure, based on estimates from USDA’s Economic Research Service of 31 percent food loss at the retail and consumer levels, corresponded to approximately 133 billion pounds and $161 billion worth of food in 2010.” (2021) This is the reason people around the globe are starving. The food is being wasted! From these statistics Uttam provided us, we can see that these numbers are large and can show room for improvement. United Nations must set up penalties or convince new inventory methods to reduce these ridiculous numbers. Eliminating food waste is one way the world can help achieve the goal of “Zero Hunger” by 2030.
Khanal, U., Wilson, C., Rahman, S., Lee, B. L., & Hoang, V. (2021). Smallholder farmers’ adaptation to climate change and its potential contribution TO Un’s sustainable development goals of zero hunger and no poverty. Journal of Cleaner Production, 281, 124999. doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.124999
