Food waste is the discarding of consumable food. Unlike food loss , that may occur along the food chain during either agricultural production, post-harvest handling, storage or processing, food waste involves food that is ready for consumption being thrown away. However, usually these terms are used interchangeably, as we’ll also do in this post . Relevant research connotes that most food waste occurs at the consumption stage in most developed nations, whereas it occurs at the production and processing stages in under-developed nations .This wastage causes negative environmental impacts such as increasing the rates of green house emissions.
To tackle the challenge of wastage, there has to be strategies put in place at the various levels:
On an individual basis aim to decrease food wastage by planning for meals. Assess the available foods in your refrigerator and pantry , then determine the essentials. Do not purchase too much stock exceeding what you will need before you make your next purchase .When purchasing foods, ensure that you check for expiry date. Aim to buy foods with longer shelf-life from manufacture date , to prevent disposing off foods when they spoil, whereas they should have lasted longer to be consumed. Over-ripe or bruised fruits and vegetables can still be used instead of being discarded. Use them to make sauces , pastes and juices. Store foods in the fridge correctly at correct temperatures to preserve them longer. Ensure that left-overs are well-stored and consumed at least within 2 days.
In restaurants, food waste can be reduced by conducting regular waste audits. What you do is track the food thrown in dustbins with the different waste from food waste during preparation , during storage and from the plate , weigh them, and then estimate where most of the waste is from. Once you establish the majority of the source of your waste, enforce measures to minimize the wastage. Also ensure that your foods in the refrigerator are arranged in a manner that the most recently purchased foods are put at the back while older stock is more accessible so that the older stock is used first. This is to reduce the amount of food likely to get spoilt. Ensure that the various foods are refrigerated at their correct temperatures. Foods such as meats, should be stored at the freezer while fresh vegetables can be kept at the chilling compartment. When making food purchases , just buy what is enough to avoid excesses that you will likely discard. Conduct a prior audit as to how much food is consumed during a set period, then purchase what is enough. Consider tracking your produce using an inventory management application to determine gaps and reduce food waste. Share left-overs with those who lack food.
On a national level, through the effective utilization of production resources such as energy ,land and water, food wastage rates can be mitigated. The excessive application of fertilizers and pesticides is known to disrupt yields and pollute the environment causing damaging effects on the food supply chain. This as well as other human activities including slurry spillage from industries contribute to the loss of bio-diversity. Appropriate measures must be adopted to counter the detrimental implications posited by current agricultural practices. For example by propagating the usage of less harsh fertilizer alternatives such as kitchen waste, manure and biomass, using crop rotation to allow for soil to replenish its lost nutrients, treating water and re-using for irrigation.
Governments especially in under-developed nations should target to improve storage and distribution facilities to reduce post-harvest losses. Co-ordination between the government and local small- and medium-sized enterprises can facilitate the easy implementation of relevant food preservation technologies. This will not only lower the rates of food wastage but also create employment opportunities for those involved.
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