Food wastage is a major problem in India, with over 25% of fresh water and 300 million barrels of oil used to produce wasted food each year. Every third malnourished child in the world is Indian, yet tons of food are wasted daily due to large weddings, restaurants, and faulty supply chain infrastructure. The government is trying to reduce wastage through restrictions and prevention bills, while individuals can plan meals better, finish their plates, and donate excess food to organizations helping the hungry.

1. Think Eat Save
By : Chanchal Bhardwaj
Chanchal.bca@gmail.com

2. Food wastage is a
universal problem, but
India as country can
afford it a whole lot less
than many others.
According to a report
by the Food and
Agricultural
Organization of the
United Nations, every
third malnourished
child is Indian. Yet, tons
of food is wasted every
day.

3. Why is food wastage a problem?
• 25% of fresh water used to produce food is ultimately wasted, even as
millions of people still don’t have access to drinking water. When you calculate
the figures in cubic kilometers, this is a bit more than an average river.
• Even though the world produces enough food to feed twice the world’s
present population, food wastage is ironically behind the billions of people
who are malnourished. The number of hungry people in India has increased
by 65 million more than the population of France.
• According to a survey by Bhook (an organization working towards reducing
hunger) in 2013, 20 crore Indians sleep hungry on any given night. About 7
million children died in 2012 because of hunger/malnutrition.
• Acres of land are deforested to grow food. Approximately 45% of India’s land
is degraded primarily due to deforestation, unsustainable agricultural
practices, and excessive groundwater extraction to meet the food demand.
• 300 million barrels of oil are used to produce food that is ultimately wasted.

4. Wastage of food is not
indicative of only hunger or
pollution, but also many
economic problems in the
economy, such as inflation.
Only government policies
are not responsible for the
problems we are facing
today, but our culture and
traditions are also playing a
lead role in this drama. In
India, the bigger the
wedding, the larger the
party and the more colossal
the waste.

5. • When a team of 10 professors from
the University of Agricultural Sciences
(UAS), Bangalore, surveyed 75 of
Bangalore’s wedding halls over six
months, they recorded a wastage of
over 943 ton of good quality food i.e.
enough food to feed 2.6 crore people
a regular Indian meal.

6. • No doubt weddings and
banquets are a huge
source of food wastage,
but restaurants and
hotels also contribute to
food wastage, though the
awareness around this
has grown in the last five
years.

7. • However, around 40% of the food produced gets wasted even before it reaches
your plate.
• Of every 10 grains, 6 never reach a home, due to poor transportation, storage
and other steps in the supply chain process. Post-harvest losses in India are
claimed to be almost one lakh crore rupees, amounting to almost 10% of the
budget 2017-18 allocation to the agriculture sector! A faulty supply chain is a
major factor.

8. Solution..
• Government Interventions To Reduce Wastage
• The Jammu and Kashmir government announced restrictions on the number of
guests to be invited and specified the number of dishes that can be served at
both public and private gatherings, mostly weddings, in a bid to limit wastage
of food and essential commodities in such ceremonies.
• The Marriages (Compulsory Registration and Prevention of Wasteful Expenditure)
Bill, 2016, may be taken up as a private member’s bill in the upcoming Lok Sabha
session. The purpose of the bill is to prohibit extravagant and wasteful
expenditure on marriages and to enforce simpler solemnization.

9. • The Scottish government provides free doggy bags to restaurants in the country.
Restaurants in France are legally obliged to provide doggy bags to their
customers.
• The UK has a food waste supermarket, which sells food discarded by
supermarkets and food businesses, on a pay-as-you-feel basis. The supermarket
has become a lifeline for several families and is part of a larger project to
channelize food wastage away from landfills and to fight hunger

10. Here’s what
one can do on
a more
personal level
to contain the
food wastage:
• Plan out your meal and make your shopping list to
determine what you actually need for the week. About
20% of what we buy in urban India ends up being thrown
away. You could in the week after cut down on the
surplus and soon in two or three weeks you will have a
precise list of your family’s weekly consumption.
• Buy in quantities you can realistically use. Avoid impulse
buys. It will more or less find the bin.
• If you cook at home, make sure you cook keeping in mind
there is no excess. You can always complete your meals
with a few fruits rather than keep some extra food in the
refrigerator. It’s a lot better and a healthier practice too.
• Select according to their shelf life. Use the green
vegetables first. Don’t throw out fruits and veggies with
‘aesthetic only’ blemishes. Use canned and bottled food
before expiry dates.

11. • Reuse the refrigerated left-overs (if any) for the very next
meal.
• Even if food gets spoilt then compost it.
• If you work in an office that has a canteen, check with them
on how they manage excess food. Cooked food, especially
since it has a low shelf life needs to be managed better and
faster. Check with NGOs who offer to transport excess food
to the needy.
• If you host a family get together either at home, a marriage
hall or throw a party at a hotel, make sure you plan for the
food to be transported to a place like an orphanage or an old
age shelter.
• Make finishing your plate a habit. Try to inculcate it further
to as many possible.

12. • http://www.neprafoundation.org/
• http://www.delhifoodbanking.org/
• http://robinhoodarmy.com/
• https://www.feedingindia.org/
Many NGOs, Institutes, are working in this direction: