Worldwide, food waste is one of the prime issues threatening food security, and Bangladesh is not an exception. Report shows that at least 93.10 crore tonnes of food are wasted globally every year, which amounts to 17 percent of total food production. It is apprehended that the amount of food that is wasted each year will rise by a third by 2030, when 2.1bn tonnes will either be lost or thrown away, equivalent to 66 tonnes per second.
Food waste refers to food that is good in quality and fit for human consumption but that does not get consumed because it is discarded for many reasons. Even though the world produces enough food to feed twice the world’s present population, the irony is that still there are billions of people who are malnourished.
Reducing food waste requires
a change of personal attitude
Over the past decade food and food waste has been an emerging global problem. It needs no mentioning that with accelerated economic growth and increasing production, food waste will be a matter of grave concern also in Bangladesh sooner or later.
According to the Food Waste Index Report 2021 by the Nairobi-based United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), on average, a Bangladeshi annually wastes 65 kg food at home. The report estimates Bangladesh's annual food waste is over one crore tonne (1,06,18,233).
In order to reduce food waste we need to find ways to utilise the surplus food left by ordinary citizens. Though it is impossible to completely halt the food waste issue yet can be minimised significantly by creating public awareness through launching campaigns and education programs on food waste. Reducing food waste requires a change of personal attitude.
We need to launch a comprehensive national campaign to save food and use it wisely since a significant proportion of food is imported. Awareness building programmes should be devised to stop wastage of food, not simply in the family, but in restaurants, hotels, schools, institutions, and universities.
