STAFF REPORT IBD: The global food production systems presently occupy 25 per cent of all habitable lands and are account for 70 per cent of fresh water consumption and 30 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions. Each year, an estimated one third of all food produced (around 1.3 billion tons) ends up rotting in the bins of consumers and retailers or get spoiled due to poor transportation and harvesting practices.
“Apart from the moral implications of such wastage in a world where almost 900 million people go hungry every day, unconsumed food wastes put into growing it and the fuel spent on transporting produce across vast distances,” said Secretary of the Ministry of Climate Change while addressing a ceremony held at the PARC premises to mark the the World Environment Day.
He pointed out significant amounts of the powerful greenhouse gas methane emanate from food decomposing on landfills, while livestock and forests cleared for food production contribute to global warming.
The other speakers also highlight the irony that, in an era where technology makes it ever easier to store food for longer, most people make less effort to conserve food and thus waste money.
They said that reducing food waste and loss is an economic, ethical and environmental challenge that links to some of the greatest challenges of today, from hunger and nutrition to climate change, deforestation and land degradation.