sustainable ways to handle food waste issues

8/13/2019 Sustainable ways to handle Food Waste Issues

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SBM

ASSIGNMENT-02

1/26/2014

Chandan Khandelwal - u112020


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The Need:

Food! Is there really any need which is more important and crit ical for a living beings survival than

Food! It is rightly said that - Earth produces enough for everyones need but not for anyones

greed. The issue is not food scarcity; it is the wastage of food. There are uncountable no people and

animals all around us who dont get the minimum amount of calories per day to live a healthy life.We might not be able to provide new sources of food for these beings, but what we can definitely do

is avoid wasting what we have, consume only whats required and contribute towards solving the

food problem.

Some hard hitting facts about food wastage:

Roughly one third of the food produced in the world for human consumption every year approximately 1.3 billion tonnes gets lost or wasted.

Every year, consumers in rich countries waste almost as much food (222 million tonnes) asthe entire net food production of sub-Saharan Africa (230 million tonnes).

The amount of food lost or wasted every year is equivalent to more than half of the world'sannual cereals crop (2.3 billion tonnes in 2009/2010).

In the United States 30% of all food, worth US$48.3 billion (32.5 billion), is thrown awayeach year. It is estimated that about half of the water used to produce this food also goes to

waste, since agriculture is the largest human use of water.

In the USA, organic waste is the second highest component of landfills, which are the largestsource of methane emissions.

Why not fixed yet?

We know that we shouldnt waste food; we know that its unethical and inhuman to do so. Yet it iseasier said than done. The reason lies in the simplest of human follies-Its OK once or twice; I dont

do it all the time or why bother as it doesnt matter!

Negligence and not ignorance is the root cause of this problem in most of the countries around the

world. Also measures have to taken at a very elementary level and therefore everybody including

local government bodies and inhabitants has to contribute consistently to create a difference.

Failure of one member in the chain collapses the whole structure.

Also, some people and even countries, since they are rich and therefore can afford to waste or are

too busy to care about, create a huge mess. The governments efforts though well intended andplanned fail to deliver due to lack of awareness and conscience in their citizens.

How to fix it sustainably?

Simple steps in a household can save us a lot of trouble and avoid wastage:

Portion control: Controlling the amount on your plate controls the amount in the garbage.Start with a small serving and get seconds if you want them.

Leftover luck: Give yesterdays dinner a new life in a new recipe. Transform grilled chicken,steak or veggies into sandwiches or pasta salad.

Cut your costs in half. Buy just what you need. First in, first out. Rotate items in your fridge and pantry so the oldest items are at the front.


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Keep food fresh: Learn to store foods properly to keep them fresh as long as possible. Avoid the trash: Sending food to landfills wastes valuable resources and ultimately

exacerbates climate change. Do all you can to keep it out.

Feed edible food to people. If you follow the steps above, you shouldnt end up with anyunneeded food. But if you do, give it to your family, friends or coworkers. Donate it to afood bank, food pantry or shelter.

Compost inedible food. Composting enables you to transform food waste into a valuablesoil amendment.

Solution Designs and proposed Mechanisms:

In spite of all the efforts and measures some amount of food is bound to get wasted. Scientists and

researchers are trying to develop ways to dispose spoiled food without harming the environment.

Since food is a source organic waste; it has to be disposed off responsibly.

Many ideas have been implemented in the past in order to come up with Environmental friendly

ways to decompose organic food waste:

In New York City, the food waste collection program is beginning in three different arenas.

The first is single-family residences, where the initial curb side organics collection program was

rolled out in one Staten Island neighbourhood. It has already secured a household participation rate

of 43%. And the food and yard waste bins are being filled almost exclusively with only food wastes

and yards waste (the city reports a contamination rate of less than one per cent).

Next, the city has begun collecting food wastes from lunchrooms in nearly 100 city schools. This is

terrific because as school kids learn to participate in the program they will take their knowledge

home; they become the recyclers and composters of tomorrow. The city plans to have the school

lunchroom composting program up and running in more than 400 city schools by December.

Third, the city has begun testing the curb side collection of food waste in residential high-rise

buildings. Leading the way is The Helena -- a modern, 38 story,LEED gold building on Manhattans

west side. With cooperation from the Durst Organization and building residents, all 600 units are

able to participate in the program and turn their food waste into compost that can be used in parks,

community gardens and neighbourhood beautification projects.

Another way is Worm Farming : Worm farming is a method of composting or breaking organic

matter down into a form easily accessible to plants through the aid of worms. They do this by

munching their way through all you food scraps and other organic materials and as a result of their

digestive processes they produce castings (worm poo). Casting are easily absorbed by plants and

dont require any further action by microbes one placed on to your soil. This means it is readily taken

up by your hungry plants.

Worm farming is a relatively simple form of composting as you rely on worms to do nearly all the

work. You provide the right conditions (appropriate shelter, moisture, and food) and they do the

rest.


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sustainable ways to handle food waste issues

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