The word "Hunger" quickly makes one think, well we are talking about poor and under-developed countries in Africa and Asia where people still find it hard to feed their kid to two square meals a day. But it was quite an eye opener for me when a few days back I hear in the news that one in seven people in United States is not sure of where and when his next meal is going to come. In a developed country which grows so much of food and even exports cannot meet the demand of its own people?
A few interesting facts made me think, that are definitely some serious reasons why some of these hungry and poor people within this country and beyond are not been provided with the excess food that grows in this planet.
- Americans waste more than $75 billion dollar worth of food each year as it moves from the farms to the trash bins.
- More than a quarter of the food grown here is thrown away without being used. 15% of all food is not even touched
- Growers plow their crop if the prices in the market drop beyond a certain point just to make sure that the demand supply balance maintains their margin.
- Dairy products and fresh fruits and vegetables accounted for half of retail losses.
With every pound of food wasted, we incur more cost to recycle or disposal. To add to this, addition to the green house gases (only if we think this matters).
What still makes me think are
1. Can we think beyond profit margin and may be think of the human race who needs this excess food which does not get used by anyone?
2. Can we shop and consume wisely to minimize food loss that unknowingly goes through our refrigerators to the trash cans and then to the land fills?
3. Can sustainable farming be an answer to minimize farm losses?
4. Do we have the technology to pack this additional produce and supply it to ones who need it every minute and the kids who die from hunger and starvation?
Lots of thoughts and hope that we all do our own bit to at least make sure we are not wasting the most precious thing that is needed to live - FOOD...
