By Ayesha Ahmed
Do
you eat to live, or live to eat?
As much as your conscience is coercing
you to agree with the biological sense inherent in this concept, the truth is
that we all love devoting our attention to food. Food is, hands down, the most
major attraction of all the attractions, regardless of the nature of the
occasion.
Unfortunately though, in the quest of
keeping our taste buds tantalised, we, more often than not, stock our plates with
more food than we can consume and, consequently, most of it is wasted.
United Nations Secretary, General Ban
Ki-Moon has, hence, rightly said, “We live in a world of plenty, where food
production outstrips demand.” However, “870 million people remain
undernourished and childhood
stunting is a silent pandemic.”
Think
Have you ever pondered over the
resources you consume? Do you make an effort to conserve water? Do you turn out
the extra lights without getting the regular bashing by your dad? Do you avoid
making emotional/ extravagant choices whenever possible? Do you have plans of
running a responsible organisation or are you ambitious about working in one,
perhaps?
If you responded affirmatively to at
least two of the aforementioned questions, then you should take pride in the
fact that you are playing your part in ending a global waste epidemic, in which
almost one-third of ‘good’ food goes to trash.
Eat
It goes without saying that you are what
you eat. Some of us eat to maintain our health while majority of us just like
indulging in food, whenever we can.
However, regardless of your association
to food, one thing that matters the most is being smart. It is mandatory that
you contemplate the way you shop for food, serve it, eat it and, most
importantly, discard it.
So, eat…to your heart’s content, but of
course thoughtfully!
Save
Ever wondered where all the products on
the grocer’s shelves come from?
With the easy availably of food, it is
only natural to shrug off activities involving grocery shopping, cooking,
eating and, certainly, trashing. Undeniably then, the acts of harvesting,
manufacturing packaging, shipping and merchandising the food required for our
sustenance are hardly paid any heed.
It, therefore, shouldn’t come as a
surprise that there is little or no awareness about the score of food that ends
up in the garbage along the entire food supply chain during production,
distribution, consumption and disposal.
Sadly, such a colossal food loss and
waste is playing havoc with the economy, society and environment, at large.
About time we seriously thought about saving, not only for ourselves, but for
our fellow beings and certainly the planet!
What’s
it all about?
Did you know that one in seven people,
in the world, go to bed hungry daily and over 20,000 children, aged five and
below, die from hunger everyday?
It is tragic how the planet is striving
to attain resources to nurture a whopping population of seven billion people
(growing to nine billion by 2050) and yet, as estimated by the Food and
Agriculture Organisation (FAO), a third of global food production is either
wasted or lost.
Owing to this massive inequity in
lifestyles and the overwhelming effects it has on the environment, the theme
for this year’s World Environment Day celebration- Think.Eat.Save. Reduce Your
Foodprint - encourages each one of us to become more aware and think over the
food choices we make and how the environment has to suffer the devastating
consequences.
World
Environment Day
Every
year, everywhere, everyone
The ritual of celebrating World
Environment Day started in 1972 and ever since then it has turned out to be one
of the primary modes through which the United Nations enlightens people across
the globe about the environment and stimulates political attention and action.
World Environment Day, celebrated on 5th
June every year, is also given so much significance because it’s probably the
only day when people from all walks of life take out some time out of their
busy lives to ensure a cleaner, greener and brighter prospect for themselves
and their progeny.
WED’s campaign this year - Think.Eat.Save.
Reduce Your Foodprint - urges each one of us to come together and contribute
against food wastage and then witness the might of collective decisions to
reduce food waste, save money, lessen the concussion instigated by food
production and consumption and encourage food production processes to get to
the next level.
The global host for WED 2013 was Mongolia, a
country whose economy is growing by leaps and bounds and one that is yearning
to transform into a green economy and a green civilisation.
The reason behind choosing Mongolia for
hosting WED 2013 is not because it is a big waster of food but because of the
traditional and nomadic lifestyles of its people who can use their ancient
wisdom to come up with great ideas of avoiding food waste in the contemporary
age.
Here’s a blast from the past- Genghis
Khan, the renowned Mongol General, and his troops made use of this peculiar
food, borts, when touring through Asia and did
not feel the need to rely on elaborate supply chains at all. Borts is actually
processed beef equivalent to the protein of an entire cow, however, it is
minimised to a size as small as a human fist.
This incredible technique of
preservation, without refrigeration, was capable of preparing a meal equal to
quite a few steaks when the protein shavings were immersed into hot water to
make soup. Besides, Mongolians have several other secrets worth sharing that
can help a great deal with the preservation of food.
Let
your act begin at home!
As General Ban Ki-Moon says, “Although individual
decisions may seem small in the face of global threats and trends, when
billions of people join forces in common purpose, we can make a tremendous
difference.”
Keeping that in mind, there is plenty we
can do at an individual level to not waste food and charity, unquestionably,
begins at home.
Listed below are a few ideas which I found
quite easy to follow to reduce my foodprint and hope you will too.
Buy
funny fruit
A great amount of fruits and veggies are
disposed off because they don’t look ‘right’, probably because there is some
fault in their colour, size or shape. So, the next time you hit the market,
purchase such foods which will otherwise be wasted.
Donate
You can actually kill two birds with one
stone by giving away extra/unwanted food. You won’t only be avoiding food
wastage this way but will also be feeding the poor at the same time who can,
unfortunately, be found at every nook and corner of the country.
Freeze
it
Bought seasonal fruits in surplus and
afraid you won’t be able to have it all in time? Freeze it!
Frozen foods remain edible indefinitely.
So, freeze fresh produce and leftovers if you won’t have the chance to eat them
before they go bad.
Invent
new recipes
There are many creative ways to deal
with remnants stored in the fridge.
Scour the web to search for new recipes
using leftovers and also learn innovative methods of storing food to keep them
safe for a longer period of time.
Learn
and Educate
Did you have any idea about how ONE
litre of milk is produced? Yes, by using about a THOUSAND litres of water!
It’s extremely important that you keep
yourself up-to-date with the environment impact of food product. Also, tell
your peers and friends how their individual actions against food waste can make
a big difference!
The original article appeared here
Do you eat to live, or live to eat?
Do you eat to live, or live to eat?
