A third of all food gets wasted. Here are apps that can help you share it.
Wasting food is not cool. Literally, for it makes the climate hotter.
Globally, about 1.4 billion hectares of agricultural land goes into generating foods that are never consumed. That’s almost 30 percent of the farmlands in the world.
Making it worse is the fact that the carbon footprint of wasting food makes it the third biggest emitter of carbon dioxide in the world after America and China, according to the United Nation Food and Agriculture Organization or FAO. In fact, experts say that bringing down food waste is among the best ways to tackle climate crisis.
All this points to the fact that apps like Olio could be a needful tool not just in bringing necessary food for those who would otherwise go hungry, but also in our collective efforts to fight climate change.
Olia connects people who have spare food with those who might be in need of it, or at least those who can collect the surplus food and bring it to those in need.
The app has reportedly seen a fivefold rise in listings last year. And there is every indication that the serious growth is going to continue in this year as well.
But at the same time, it should be understood that success of such apps doesn’t translate to substantial action against climate change. We need a mass-level shift in consciousness regarding our attitudes towards food wastage- and generally, the way we treat nature. We would need to approach nature not as a resource to be exploited but as a valuable asset to be preserved for coming generations.
Olia is not the only app which is helping curb food wastage. Too good to go is another example. The app was launched in 2016.
Using it, you could pay a steeply slashed price for foods that may otherwise be wasted. Like Olio, their app also has seen good uptake around the world- 34 million downloads till date. And that number keeps rising.
Karma is yet another app that helps reduce food waste. 1.4 million people are already using the app. And then, there are country-specific apps along the same line, like Hubbub in the United Kingdom.
Hubbub has already created a network that includes over a hundred community fridges in that country. It’s expected that the number of such fridges would be doubled by the end of 2021.
According to FAO, almost a third of all foods produced around the world get wasted.
On the basis of tackling poverty alone, platforms that help tackle food waste should be welcome. Add to it the prospect of fighting climate change and you may want to think about signing up for one of these apps with even more urgency.
Most of the apps that were mentioned in this post work in different countries around the world. If you can spare a few seconds-and food-please do check out if they are operating in your part of the world.
They may not be enough to end the malaise of food waste. But you have to start somewhere, and can do worse than with these apps.
