Wasting food - Wasting life

Reducing post harvest losses could work out for compressing food wastage. For this purpose, technology experts and crop scientists should start a program with the collaboration of the World Food Preservation Center, FAO, YPARD and several other concerned institutions that are already involved in reducing food wastage around the world.

Youth involvement in activities organized by the community in the different regions would be more useful for the farmers training and urban campaigning programs, as it would help people to understand and overcome the current requirements of global food crisis. Besides, food policymakers should consider an in-depth look at major food policy development as well as the organization of events on the topic to make it more comprehensive to the public.

Increasing food prices to decrease food waste

Low food prices could contribute to increase people´s consumption, rather than wasting the entire food products by stocking or keeping them in warehouses. Hence, it´s clear that the low buying power represents the major cause in food wastage as per the current market scenario worldwide.

Kálmán Zoltán, Head of Department at the Ministry of Agriculture of Hungary, stresses about the worrying current market trend of food prices. “Food waste is a big problem, says Zoltán, and it is partly the consequence of the low food prices´ policy.

There could be many ways to reduce food waste, but higher food prices would obviously contribute not only in decreasing the quantity of food wasted but also in guaranteing a decent income for farmers and their families. This would encourage rural people not to leave their homes, nor to migrate to big cities or abroad, what would be especially important for the rural youth.”

The food you waste is another person’s meal

Developing countries are facing food damaging issues while keeping it in the store or during the process of exporting food items. This is actually a long processing procedure to preserve it. But due to unavailability of cold warehouses facilities in rural areas and the lack of knowledge awareness about technology and how to utilize it to save food when facing climate changes, national food stocks are declining in the country. 

Young people are socially conscious, active agents of change, responsible and idealist, as well as well-versed in technology. They are great role models for society.?? Thus, we should engage the youth in developing activities and drive the community programs to avoid food wastage through initiatives for innovative campaigning, advocacy as well as volunteer contribution. This would enhance the impact of such initiatives through dialogues with the involvement of young people to lead the program in their areas and regions for reducing the food wastage and post harvest losses.

Picture credit: 0116FoodWasteBlogpost, By Faisal Mahmood/Reuters/File.