From Throw-Away to Zero Waste
When talking about our present society, a term that frequently comes up categorises us as being a “throw-away society” driven more by consumerism rather than conservation. In the recent years, we have seen a growing trend in awareness toward conserving resources and in planning for the future of our planet. With the rise of many local and global initiatives, we have begun educating people and shifting the focus to creating a sustainable society. Yet, there is far more to be accomplished.
Save Food!, a study conducted by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the UN shows that we waste about 1.3 billion tons of food a year. This statistic only comprises food that could have been consumed and not rotten foods. When we take into account the financial burden that food wastage causes, a whopping US$ 680 billion of food is thrown away in industrialized countries and US$ 310 billion in developing countries as seen in the study carried out by the Think.Eat.Save campaign of the Save Food Initiative. In the US every year US$ 165 billion of food is thrown away and individually, American families waste approximately 25 percent of the food and beverages they buy and the cost estimate for this wastage is US$ 1,365 to US$2,275 annually as per the Wasted study (The Natural Resources Defense Council).
According to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Report, approximately 793 million people are starving around the world. Food insecurity can be combated by using unaesthetic looking food or food that we just do not like. As we delve deeper into the effects of wastage, we see the more widespread problem with staggering consequences on the environment and biodiversity in the form of climate change and consumption of water and land resources. The FAO’s Food Wastage Footprint has estimated the carbon footprint of food produced and not eaten is approximately 3.3 billion tons of carbon dioxide per year.
As individuals, we must be the change, rather than relying on governments and organizations, that we want to see in the world starting with ourselves, our homes and our kitchens. Since most people buy more food than they consume, we can remember to take a peek into our fridges and pantries and shop accordingly which can have a big impact. Another simple and delicious method of preserving food is fermenting and pickling, processes that were invaluable to our ancestors. Sustainable consumption can also be seen in the form of eating the whole vegetable or fruit whether it is roots, stalks or scraps, parts which are often nutritionally dense. Buying local produce, having a better understanding of food expiration labels, learning the correct food storage methods including freezing and eating leftovers would help in reducing the amount of food wastage. We could also learn to redefine our beauty standards and join The Ugly Fruit and Veg Campaign started by Jordan Figueiredo, an Anti-Food Waste Activist from California. His campaign uses images of fruits and vegetables that are perfectly edible but are wasted because they do not meet the cosmetic standards of supermarkets.
An app like Chefling, thanks to latest technology, has simplified the burden of deciding what to cook; keeping track of our foods and helping you to remember the food that you have already bought and stored. Apart from its wide variety of recipes that will make cooking more fun, its virtual pantry feature allows you to add groceries in your kitchen or scan barcodes from packaging of foods to give you personalized meal options. As for those grocery lists, Chefling will make and store one for you and most importantly, it will even remind you about the food that is going to spoil so you can use it before you have to throw it away.
Wastage begins with each and every one of us and if we all make small changes, we can turn our throw-away society into a zero waste one and build a sustainable future for us all to thrive in.
