Did you know more than one third of the total food supply go to waste? Studies shows such wastage is one of the biggest contributors to climate change. But there's no need to fret. If everyone just do their part such problem could easily be addressed.
If you have less food to waste, not only you are helping the environment but you yourself are also benefiting. You will save yourself time and money if you only choose to buy what you can only consume. In the bigger picture, your food saving techniques might just help save some species like the Bengal tigers. Since growing argiculture often drives the loss of habitat for some species.
"I think that the awareness of people is growing. Though it is slow, it is better than nothing," said Dana Gunders, author of the book Waste-Free Kitchen Handbook. "But I think that people still don't see the connection between food wastage as a global problem whenever they scrape their excess food in the garbage."
Researchers are hopeful that though continuous study, the general population will realize that the little saving that they do on their part could give birth to great impacts to the survival of species and the environment.
So where can people start? What can they do in their homes to keep them from becoming contributors to food wastage? Here's what experts think can be done:
- Get yourself acquainted with the difference between "best by," "sell by," "use by." these date labels can be quite confusing, but if you are able to tell the difference among these three terms, it is fairly easy to know which items in the pantry you need to use up first and which ones can be stored there longer.
- How much food from your household go to waste? More than 75% of the total American population believe that their household throw away less food than the others. "It's pretty much a universal response," said Brian Roe, director of the Ohio State Food Wastage Collaboration. "Nobody wants to admit that they contribute to the problem.
- Composting and using it for urban gardening may help reduce food wastage, but it depends on what goes into the compost. "Perhaps composing gives people the relatively good feeling that their food wasting isn't that bad," said Roe, a economic professor. "Composting isn't bad but it also isn't the goal. Everyone should instead work on creating no food wastage at all."
While an individual leftover waste seems insignificant, it is a big problem when everyone does it. However, if everyone helps out and works on reducing their own food wastage at home, it will help contribute to making the enviornment cleaner.
